Newark, Honeywell Making Energy Upgrades At 17 City Buildings

NEWARK, NJ — The City of Newark and manufacturing giant Honeywell are planning to carry out a massive energy upgrade at 17 municipal facilities, including City Hall and Symphony Hall, officials announced Tuesday.

Newark officials recently selected Honeywell to lead the upgrade project, which officials say will cut the city’s annual energy operating costs by an estimated 36 percent, a potential savings of nearly $1 million a year, according to a joint news release.

According to Newark and Honeywell officials:

“The Honeywell-led facility upgrades are being funded with a $2.3 million rebate from the New Jersey Clean Energy Program and a 20-year, $15.4 million energy savings service contract. The contract enables the funding of the upgrades with annual energy and operational savings resulting from the project work. Honeywell guarantees the savings, eliminating the need for upfront capital investment and making it a self-funding project over the contract term… Honeywell is contracting with many local resources to complete the work, with approximately 40 percent of the project labor coming from Newark residents.”

The building infrastructure improvements are expected to be completed by end of 2019, officials said.

As part of the project, Honeywell plans to:

• Implement three cogeneration plants to enable the city to generate on-site electricity and heat simultaneously in two recreation centers and at the City Hall complex
• Modernize the existing City Hall complex central boiler plant
• Replace failed steam traps and missing pipe insulation on steam distribution systems to reduce thermal energy losses
• Upgrade lighting with more energy-efficient LEDs
• Install energy-efficient control solutions, such as room occupancy sensors to automatically turn lights off when areas are unoccupied, and install thermostatic valves on radiators to reduce steam consumption
• Install a comprehensive Building Management System (BMS) platform that allows building managers to monitor and control multiple buildings from a central location
• Integrate the City’s HVAC and building systems into the BMS for city personnel to better monitor and manage systems under a unified platform
• Install a City-wide solution to reduce desktop computer electric power consumption
• Improve building envelopes to better maintain conditioned air in facilities
• Install electric and gas sub-meters on buildings to more accurately monitor and manage energy use

When completed, the building upgrades will help Newark reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2,930 metric tons a year – equivalent to eliminating 564 cars from the road, officials said.

“We believe that everyone in our community has the right to a clean and healthy environment to live, work and play,” Mayor Ras Baraka said. “This is why Newark is committed to doing our part by developing solutions, implementing programs and working with partners like Honeywell to help us achieve energy savings, reduce greenhouse gases and pollution, and bring quality of life benefits home to Newarkers.”

“As someone who was born and raised in the Ironbound section of Newark, this project is personally meaningful for me,” said Joseph Fiordaliso, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

“I am extremely pleased that our energy efficiency rebate program is playing such a prominent role in a project that will not only save Newark money but also help the city meet its clean energy target,” Fiordaliso said. “Thank you to Mayor Baraka for sharing my belief that there is no more important goal than working toward mitigating the impacts of climate change – with this project Newark is clearly on the right track.”

“These projects can effectively pay for themselves with funding enabled through guaranteed savings,” said Wayne Kent, vice president and general manager of Honeywell Building Solutions, Americas. “That’s a win for both city leaders and their communities.”

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