Larry and Sharon Hodgden – Nominated by Tipton Municipal Utilities
Larry and Sharon installed 18 solar panels on their home’s roof in November 2018. The first full month of billing was for January 2019. After tax credits, the project cost approximately $10,000. The Hodgdens expect a return on investment of 5% minimum annually. The environmental impact was more important to the couple than the return on investment, though.
Northwestern College – Nominated by Orange City Municipal Utilities
The Northwestern College Natural & Health Sciences Building is a 64,163 square-foot facility in Orange City, IA, zone 6a. The facility is a two-story building with basement to house labs, classrooms, and offices for natural health and science. It also has a penthouse for greenhouse space. This facility has a relatively complex mechanical system designed for overall kW, kWh, and therm savings (CHW/HW VAV AHU, chilled beams). It has ERV for ventilation air, a 90-ton chiller sized for only ½-load, ice water storage for the other half of the cooling load, a water/water heat pump energy recovery chiller, variable speed fans and pumping, condensing boilers. This facility also has energy-efficient windows and lighting.
Keith’s Foods – Nominated by the City of Bloomfield
Keith’s owner, Brian Burnam, recognized that by making some changes with how the store approached energy usage, he might be able to reduce the store’s utilities costs. Burnam added solar panels to the store’s roof – in two phases – each set producing about 50 kWh, swapped out less efficient lighting with LED lighting, made open refrigerated dairy and deli cases into closed cases, and replaced the produce case with a high-efficiency model. As a result, Keith’s is realizing a 25% energy savings compared to previous usage.