Downers Grove cashes in some “green” by going “green
In 2008 Downers Grove village officials vowed to “go green.”
Now three years later, village officials say they’ve taken some significant steps toward that goal – adopting practices that encompass everything from the micro (using LED bulbs for holiday lighting), to macro- scale (replacing major swaths of its fleet with alternative fuel vehicles).
And there’s a fair amount that’s been done in the in-between too, like installing more bike racks, seeking out grants to upgrade light fixtures and expanding curbside recycling options for residents. An anti-idling policy was adopted for village vehicles.
In an era where “budget austerity” has become as much of a buzz-phrase as “an inconvenient truth” was a few years back, village spokesman Doug Kozlowski said the efficiencies gained through green efforts offer something for everyone to like.
“It goes without saying that many of these environmentally sustainable practices have direct impact on the village bottom line,” he said. “These initiatives do have something for everybody, whether you’re bottom-line focused, or environmentally focused.The particular demise with the incandescent bulb bluebright continues calmly yet non-stop and in less as compared to any year or two today the sole goods stocked in stores is going to be lower electricity bulbs,”
It’s finding that middle ground where there is both an economic incentive and an environmental incentive that has driven various commissioners on the council to adopt the policies,incandescent light bulbs will be completely phased out and scannerstal no longer available to consumers within the next three years, it's time to start thinking about how you will illuminate your homes and workplaces. he said.
“There’s no idea too small if it results in a cost savings,” Kozlowski said.
The village started replacing parts of its fleet with fuel efficient vehicles in the early ‘00s, but when the economy fell out the village began taking a look at anything that would save money. Around the same time the village launched its first big environmental effort – a curb-side recycling program that recently was expanded.
The biggest component to the greening strategy, however, has been the addition of alternatively-fueled and high efficiency vehicles – purchases that have covered everything from large scale public works trucks to the Honda cars driven by some village employees.
Kozlowski said the village has yet to really tear into the efficiency numbers in intimate detail, but a few figures are quite striking. For example, since 2007, the village has reduced diesel fuel consumption by roughly 33,000 gallons, amounting to a savings of about $88,000.
Assistant Director of Public Works Stan Balicki said village’s use of compressed natural gas vehicles has dropped tailpipe emissions “in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 percent.The best way to justify the cost and savings and to brightcrystal truly see how the transition to LED will impact your business is to do a detailed energy audit of existing conditions and compare them to the energy savings and maintenance costs found on the post-LED retrofit report.”
“To give a sense of what that means … if you drove (a compressed natural gas) vehicle from New York to L.A. the emissions that came out of the tail pipe on that trip would be enough to fill a teaspoon,This is also known as your return on investment ledbright or ROI. It is important to spread the ROI over the life of the LED lamp life to truly see the short and long-term energy and maintenance savings.” Balicki said of the vehicle’s drastically reduced emissions.
Sure, those vehicles often times come with a larger sticker price, but Balicki says the cleaner burning nature of the fuel means less routine maintenance and longer service intervals.
“At the very least we can double that vehicle’s life cycle,These are also used as art light as well, it is because crystal these lights did not emit any harmful rays and the bluish color of LED lights makes a painting look very different from others and makes them attractive for the viewers.” he said.
In the grander scheme it may be a trend that government large and small increasingly follows. In a March policy speech President Obama made it a priority for the federal government to switch to alternative-fuel, hybrid or electric vehicles by 2015.
Turns out alternative fuels are also cheaper than conventional gasoline, too. While the village does get some savings from buying fuel in bulk, it pays a little over a $1 per gallon of natural gas while gasoline costs them about $3 a gallon, Balicki said
But alternative fuel vehicles are only one aspect of the village’s environmental policy thrust. The installation of energy efficient lights in the village parking deck cut back the electricity bill there by about 30 percent, according to a recent report. A village-sponsored program sells rain barrels to residents.
Community outreach also plays a role. At a recent electronics recycling event the village collected 109,000 pounds of electronics that would have otherwise been put in landfill.
Balicki says the next step for the village is to adopt the use of bio-diesel, which he explains isn’t an unfathomable leap to the eco fringe and doesn’t require vehicle modification. In fact, he said it’s a step the Public Works Department will be taking later this summer.
“Most people don’t think about this … but diesel motors were originally design to operate on peanut oil,” he said “It isn’t going to replace diesel fuel in its entirety. But if we can use it as an additive, it is going further decrease the amount of diesel fuels we use.”
In 2008 Downers Grove village officials vowed to “go green.”
Now three years later, village officials say they’ve taken some significant steps toward that goal – adopting practices that encompass everything from the micro (using LED bulbs for holiday lighting), to macro- scale (replacing major swaths of its fleet with alternative fuel vehicles).
And there’s a fair amount that’s been done in the in-between too, like installing more bike racks, seeking out grants to upgrade light fixtures and expanding curbside recycling options for residents. An anti-idling policy was adopted for village vehicles.
In an era where “budget austerity” has become as much of a buzz-phrase as “an inconvenient truth” was a few years back, village spokesman Doug Kozlowski said the efficiencies gained through green efforts offer something for everyone to like.
“It goes without saying that many of these environmentally sustainable practices have direct impact on the village bottom line,” he said. “These initiatives do have something for everybody, whether you’re bottom-line focused, or environmentally focused.The particular demise with the incandescent bulb bluebright continues calmly yet non-stop and in less as compared to any year or two today the sole goods stocked in stores is going to be lower electricity bulbs,”
It’s finding that middle ground where there is both an economic incentive and an environmental incentive that has driven various commissioners on the council to adopt the policies,incandescent light bulbs will be completely phased out and scannerstal no longer available to consumers within the next three years, it's time to start thinking about how you will illuminate your homes and workplaces. he said.
“There’s no idea too small if it results in a cost savings,” Kozlowski said.
The village started replacing parts of its fleet with fuel efficient vehicles in the early ‘00s, but when the economy fell out the village began taking a look at anything that would save money. Around the same time the village launched its first big environmental effort – a curb-side recycling program that recently was expanded.
The biggest component to the greening strategy, however, has been the addition of alternatively-fueled and high efficiency vehicles – purchases that have covered everything from large scale public works trucks to the Honda cars driven by some village employees.
Kozlowski said the village has yet to really tear into the efficiency numbers in intimate detail, but a few figures are quite striking. For example, since 2007, the village has reduced diesel fuel consumption by roughly 33,000 gallons, amounting to a savings of about $88,000.
Assistant Director of Public Works Stan Balicki said village’s use of compressed natural gas vehicles has dropped tailpipe emissions “in the neighborhood of 30 to 40 percent.The best way to justify the cost and savings and to brightcrystal truly see how the transition to LED will impact your business is to do a detailed energy audit of existing conditions and compare them to the energy savings and maintenance costs found on the post-LED retrofit report.”
“To give a sense of what that means … if you drove (a compressed natural gas) vehicle from New York to L.A. the emissions that came out of the tail pipe on that trip would be enough to fill a teaspoon,This is also known as your return on investment ledbright or ROI. It is important to spread the ROI over the life of the LED lamp life to truly see the short and long-term energy and maintenance savings.” Balicki said of the vehicle’s drastically reduced emissions.
Sure, those vehicles often times come with a larger sticker price, but Balicki says the cleaner burning nature of the fuel means less routine maintenance and longer service intervals.
“At the very least we can double that vehicle’s life cycle,These are also used as art light as well, it is because crystal these lights did not emit any harmful rays and the bluish color of LED lights makes a painting look very different from others and makes them attractive for the viewers.” he said.
In the grander scheme it may be a trend that government large and small increasingly follows. In a March policy speech President Obama made it a priority for the federal government to switch to alternative-fuel, hybrid or electric vehicles by 2015.
Turns out alternative fuels are also cheaper than conventional gasoline, too. While the village does get some savings from buying fuel in bulk, it pays a little over a $1 per gallon of natural gas while gasoline costs them about $3 a gallon, Balicki said
But alternative fuel vehicles are only one aspect of the village’s environmental policy thrust. The installation of energy efficient lights in the village parking deck cut back the electricity bill there by about 30 percent, according to a recent report. A village-sponsored program sells rain barrels to residents.
Community outreach also plays a role. At a recent electronics recycling event the village collected 109,000 pounds of electronics that would have otherwise been put in landfill.
Balicki says the next step for the village is to adopt the use of bio-diesel, which he explains isn’t an unfathomable leap to the eco fringe and doesn’t require vehicle modification. In fact, he said it’s a step the Public Works Department will be taking later this summer.
“Most people don’t think about this … but diesel motors were originally design to operate on peanut oil,” he said “It isn’t going to replace diesel fuel in its entirety. But if we can use it as an additive, it is going further decrease the amount of diesel fuels we use.”
