The Brazos Valley Energy Conservation Coalition, Part of the Rebuild America Program in Texas: Program Update

Abstract

The Rebuild America program is network of community-based partnerships that rebuilds communities by promoting the efficient use of energy. Rebuild America is coordinated at the national level by sponsorship through the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the United States Department of Energy (USDOE). The Brazos Valley Energy Conservation Coalition (BVECC) has been a Rebuild America since 1996. Since 1996 BVECC has contacted 57 facilities in Texas about joining Rebuild America. Twenty-five of these facilities have authorized BVECC to conduct walk-through audits, and fourteen preliminary walkthrough audits have been performed. As of June 1999, nine facilities have joined the Rebuild America program covering a total of 8 million square feet of conditioned area. The total estimated project costs for retrofits at these 9 facilities are over $1 1 million, with annual savings of $2.6 million and an estimated 4.3 year payback. This paper presents an overview of the BVECC Rebuild America program in Texas, including a description of the program, conservation measures installed at the participating facilities, a description of the savings measurement methodology and a discussion of indoor environmental measurements.