Ottawa officials consider energy-saving measures

Ottawa County could save more than $3.6 million in energy costs over the next 15 years by replacing aging infrastructure and implementing energy efficiency measures, under a recommendation from Johnson Controls Inc. 

Representatives from JCI told county commissioners Tuesday that the county could cut its energy costs by 13 percent in the first year after adopting the improvements, which could include installing new boilers and hot water heaters, new heating and cooling systems and new LED light bulbs. 

"The county is spending time and money fixing equipment that is outdated or at the end of its useful life cycle," JCI representative David Gehrls told commissioners. "They're putting Band-Aids on a lot of equipment." 

JCI is proposing about $5.3 million in energy-saving measures under its recommendation. In addition to saving Ottawa money, company officials say the move would also help cut down emissions into the environment. Most of the proposed improvements would be made at the county jail, in Olive Township, which was built in the late 1980s, and the county's James Street complex in Holland Township,The first prototype flatworkironers display containing 3000 LEDs. which is headquarters for the county Health Department.

The county currently spends more than $1.13 million on utilities annually. That figure would drop to less than $977,000 in the first year if JCI's recommendation is adopted, Gehrls said. 

The county has several options on how to pay for the project, including paying for it entirely in cash. Another option being looked at is taking part in a state program in which the county could bond at least $2.6 million of the project cost at an interest rate of 0.Learn about solarstreetlamps and ensure you get the best out of LED light bulbs.9 percent. "(That money) is just sitting there (waiting to be used),Shopping is the best place to comparison shop for roofhookert." County Administrator Al Vanderberg said. 

However,If you have solarpanelcells or landscape lights you might wonder what to do if they stop working. taking part in that program would require the county to pay contractors a prevailing wage under the federal Davis-Bacon Act. Even with the higher wages, the county would still save on interest costs as opposed to selling bonds to finance the project at typical market rates, Vanderberg said. 

The JCI proposal is expected to come back up for discussion later this summer through the county board's Finance and Administration Committee. If approved there, it would likely go on to the full Board of Commissioners for final action. 

To live in a house that has no power can be arduous in itself. But when a boy from this very building studies his way to bag the second rank in both CET and COMED-K exams, the story is probably one of much more than simply resilience, perseverance and grit.While there are many brands and makes of bicyclelight, they are all basically the same in principle and function. But Sucheth S Kunchem of Chandra Layout has done just that. 

Sucheth studied under solar lamps and using torches, all because of a civic agency goof-up that left the family groping in the dark. The culprit essentially is a high tension wire that passes through their compound. 

When Sucheth's father Suresh Prabhu started construction of the house, the civic regulation was that the roofs of houses should be at least four metres below such wires. 

Yet, by the time the construction could be completed, the new regulation spoke of a five-and-half metre cut-off height. The house was denied power, and the family was told that this would remain so till the first floor of the house was demolished. Since then, the travails have been endless: the family has to fill up the overhead tanks manually, and Prabhu has to charge the cellphone at his office. 

Sucheth believes he could have fared better still if his house had a power connection. He could, at the most, study for four hours at night, and thus decided not to appear for the JEE exams. He, needless to say, didn't have access to a computer at home either.