7/25/2013
CHICAGO – The board of the Public Building Commission of Chicago (PBC) has approved an historic collaborative partnership with the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), a member of the PBC Board since 1956. As part of its long term sustainability strategy, the MWRD has enlisted the PBC to oversee and manage a comprehensive energy efficiency initiative focused on increasing the energy performance of MWRD treatment facility buildings.
Approved at the June 2013 board meeting, the program will focus on energy reduction opportunities at multiple facilities including six of their wastewater treatment facilities. Located throughout Cook County, the treatment facilities include:
- Hanover Park Water Reclamation Plant – Hanover Park, IL
- O’Brien Water Reclamation Plant – Skokie, IL
- Stickney Water Reclamation Plant – Cicero, IL
- Calumet Water Reclamation Plant – Chicago, IL
- Kirie Water Reclamation Plant – Des Plaines, IL
- Egan Water Reclamation Plant – Schaumburg, IL
Initial goals for the program include engaging specialized Energy Service Companies (ESCOs), prequalified by the PBC through its Multi-Agency Guaranteed Energy Performance Contract procurement, to provide Investment Grade Audits. Through these audits, the ESCO engineers will identify and fully define opportunities for energy saving modernizations within the MWRD treatment plant facilities.
The MWRD/PBC Energy Efficiency Program is self-funded. Investment Grade Energy Audits and Guaranteed Energy Performance Contracting will be used to monitor, verify, and guarantee projects will generate savings sufficient to repay costs within a specified payback period.
“The MWRD is excited about working together to achieve savings on behalf of taxpayers,” said MWRD Chairman of Finance Mariyana Spyropoulos, the MWRD’s appointee to the Public Building Commission. “It is a model of cooperation between intergovernmental agencies, and it will help bring costs down.”
The Public Building Commission of Chicago manages construction and renovation projects for the City of Chicago and its sister agencies. Mayor Rahm Emanuel serves as the PBC’s Chairman. Erin Lavin Cabonargi serves as the Executive Director of the PBC. Additional information about the PBC and its projects can be found at www.pbcchicago.com. Additional information about the MWRD can be found at www.mwrd.org.