Energy Assessment and Building Upgrades

Community Outreach Project

Prepared by the Mid-Region Council of Governments of New Mexico and funded by an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and administered by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department.

Fall 2010

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Mid-Region Council of Governments of New Mexico

Moriarty Community Outreach Project Energy Assessment and Building Upgrades

Project Plan

Background Funding for this Project is provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), administered by the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD). This Project is specifically funded by an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to produce Community Outreach and Energy Efficiency Programs for rural communities and small towns in the State of New Mexico. The Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) has contracted with the EMNRD (effective September 1, 2010) to conduct a Community Outreach Project in the City of Moriarty, New Mexico, which is a member government located within the MRCOG planning district. Purpose of Project This Community Outreach Project is designed to increase public knowledge about energy conservation in a small town environment by assessing individual buildings and performing upgrades to improve their energy efficiency. A key objective for this Project is to reduce overall energy consumption by 10-15% following a building assessment process which includes specific upgrades to the building structure and providing a one-on-one individualized education dialogue about energy conservation practices with the building tenants. One of the benefits of this Project will be to save consumers money through free upgrades and reduced energy use. Of regional scope will be a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from the fossil fuels used to produce the energy distributed to the consumer. Description of Project Area The City of Moriarty was chosen for this Community Outreach Project for several reasons. Moriarty, with a 2009 population estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau at 1,975, is located outside the Albuquerque metropolitan area and is served by local utilities providing electricity and natural gas services. In Moriarty, the electricity and natural gas distributers are cooperatives serving predominantly rural areas. Moriarty has an abundance of older houses (pre-1980) that lack the improved insulation that is standard for new building construction today. For purposes of this Community Outreach Project, three developed areas have been selected for building assessments, and are delineated by red lines shown in Figure 1. The Project Area is predominantly developed for residential uses but some non-residential buildings are included as well.

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The three neighborhoods comprising the Project Area are clustered near the City’s main street (US 66) and Broadway where City Hall and the Civic Center are located. A detailed inventory of buildings in the Project Area reveals 90 structures for potential assessment; including 80 residential and 10 non-residential. An inventory table is provided in Appendix A of this Project Plan report. When complete, this inventory will contain information on the owner, type (use) of building, service address, single meter service account numbers for natural gas and electricity and water, mailing address, and rental properties. From this listing of buildings, at least 60 will be assessed and updated for energy efficiency, depending on the overall costs of the assessment and upgrades. It is assumed that a number of building owners or tenants will refuse the offer to conduct the free energy assessment process. Project Initiation The selection of the City of Moriarty by the MRCOG staff was enthusiastically supported by the Mayor. The Community Outreach Project was initiated with a local conference attended by the Mayor and City Clerk, representatives of the Central New Mexico Electric Cooperative and the EMW Gas Association, and the MRCOG staff. The purpose of that conference was to develop assurances from the utility companies to support the Project and, more importantly, to seek a commitment from the utilities to provide energy consumption data for monitoring purposes. A presentation of the Project will be made to the City Council at their October 13 meeting. Advanced notification and advertising for the Project will include a press release to the local news media. Prior to any direct contact to building owners/tenants, a letter from the Mayor will be sent to all properties on the inventory listing. The letter will notify the building owners/tenants about the program and that they will be contacted by the subcontractor for authorization to enter a building for the assessment and upgrades. Subcontractor Agreement and Responsibilities Implementation of the Community Outreach Project relies on the selection of an experienced and qualified subcontractor to carry out energy assessments, provide educational dialogue and distribution of energy conservation materials, and performing necessary and reasonable upgrades to the building. At least two persons hired by the subcontractor will conduct the assessment and upgrades for each building. The subcontractor will be hired in accordance with the standard MRCOG procurement requirements subject to a Request for Proposal and selection based on an evaluation process conducted by MRCOG staff. A standard service contract will be negotiated and executed between MRCOG and the selected subcontractor. The subcontractor will be responsible for submitting necessary reports to MRCOG and shall be in compliance with ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) reporting requirements in addition to the reporting requirements of the MRCOG and EMNRD. The subcontractor’s work plan shall include the following tasks and assurances:

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• Methodology for contacting building residents and scheduling a minimum of 60 assessments and upgrades;

• Schedule for completing all building assessments and upgrades within three months or less;

• Staffing assignments and any training of workers to carry out the Project; • Wages to be paid for all Project workers, in compliance with Davis-Bacon and

state wage rates; • Documenting progress reports in accordance with ARRA and EMNRD; • Procedure for purchasing materials for upgrades, including efforts to obtain

donations of materials needed for building upgrades; • Assurances that materials used in building upgrades will be in compliance with

Buy American provisions; • Procedures for hazardous materials handling and disposal, including construction

and demolition debris, old light bulbs, lamp ballasts, lead paint, piping, roofing material, discarded equipment, and asbestos, if applicable; and

• Procedures for working on buildings either designated or qualified for designation as an historic structure.

The MRCOG will provide legal document forms for use in the building assessment and upgrades. In order to authorize the assessment team to enter and conduct an in-house inspection on private property, a waiver of liability form will need to be signed by the resident/tenant agreeing to the assessment and upgrade procedures. The resident/tenant in each of the ten (minimum) buildings selected for energy use monitoring will need to sign an additional authorization to the utility (electric, natural gas, and water) companies to release the data regarding monthly consumption of energy and water. Information will be obtained from the utility companies billing data covering the monitoring period which extends 12 months before and after the completion of the assessment and upgrade of the selected building. Costs of Materials for Upgrades The costs of purchasing materials for this Project will be subject to the individual building upgrade needs which will be determined by the assessment. A listing of potential upgrades for any building is provided below:

• Calking of windows and doors, • Weather stripping around windows and doors, • Plastic sheeting of windows, • Replacing incandescent light bulbs with CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs, • Installing a water heater insulating blanket, • Providing power strips (with surge protection) for energy draining equipment such

as computers and associated equipment, TVs, sound systems, radios, etc., • Installing electric power switch and receptacle gaskets, • Insulating pipes and repairing broken ducts if accessible, and • Installing measures to conserve heated water such as low flow showerheads and

faucet aerators.

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The cost of materials for the Project can be estimated by calculating an average assumed cost of materials for a single building and then multiplying by 60 to indicate the total cost for the minimum number of buildings to be upgraded. In actuality, a building requiring fewer materials for an upgrade will leave extra materials for another building requiring more than the assumed average materials. Once work begins on this Project, the subcontractor can verify or revise such costs based on experience and the scope of work may need to be adjusted. In order to make such calculations for purposes of the planning phase, a schedule of values for all materials which may be used in the building upgrades is presented in the table below. These costs are based on internet searches which may or may not indicate whether the materials are in compliance with the American Made provisions. Such determination will be made by the subcontractor prior to purchase of materials.

Description of Materials Cost/Unit Quantity per Build.

Scheduled Values Individual Total

Caulk (tubes) 2.35 5 11.75 705.00 Weatherization tape 3.20 5 16.00 960.00 Window Sheeting Insulation Kit (9 windows) 15.00 1 15.00 900.00 Wall plate gaskets 1.07 10 10.70 642.00 Low Flow Shower Heads 42.80 1 42.80 2568.00 Sink Aerators 3.75 2 7.50 450.00 Power strips w/surge protectors (6 outlets) 7.50 2 15.00 900.00 Duct seal tape 7.38 1 7.38 442.80 Pipe insulation foil tape 3.48 1 3.48 208.80 CFL bulbs (12 pack) 16.50 1 16.50 990.00 Water heater blanket 18.20 1 18.20 1092.00

Totals --- --- $164.31 $9858.60 Notes: 1) All costs are rounded and include a 7% Gross Receipts Tax based on GRT rates in region 2) Total of scheduled values is for 60 buildings. Project Timelines The effective date of the Agreement between MRCOG and EMNRD is September 1, 2010 with a termination date of April 30, 2012. The majority of work activities for this Project are anticipated to be completed in six months. Energy use monitoring, however, will proceed for 12 months after all of the building assessment and upgrade work is completed. Consequently, this Project should be completed by February 2012. The table below indicates the project timelines for major components of this Project.

Action or Deliverable SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB Community Selection (Project initiated Sept. 1) Plan Preparation (approval by Oct. 15) Subcontractor Selection Building Assessments and Upgrades 12-Month Monitoring Period Begins (10 Bldgs.)

Project Completion by February 2012

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Project Budget The total funding available for this Community Outreach Project is an amount not to exceed $56,690.00 to complete three general tasks. The tasks, due dates, and compensation amounts are presented in the following table. Task Description Due Date Maximum Compensation

1 Plan October 15,2010 $4,000.00 2 Implementation February 28, 2011 $47,690.00 3 Monitoring March 31, 2012 5,000.00

Total Compensation $56,690.00 The proposed budget for this Project includes allocations for MRCOG staff to complete the requirements of Tasks 1 (Plan) and 3 (Monitoring). A subcontractor will be hired to perform the energy efficiency assessments and building upgrades that are included in Task 2. There will be some funding allocated for MRCOG in Task 2 for preparation of the legal forms to be signed by the building owners/tenants; and costs associated with contract management for subcontractor oversight. The table below shows a cost breakdown for the major components of the overall budget.

Project Budget Items Recipient Amount Project planning and monitoring (direct and indirect costs) MRCOG $9,000.00 Design/Printing of legal forms and education packets MRCOG $300.00 Contract management and oversight MRCOG $1,000.00 Performance of building assessment and upgrades Subcontractor $36,490.00 Purchase of materials for building upgrades Subcontractor $9,900.00

Total Budget --- $56,690.00

APPENDIX A

Detailed Inventory of Potential Buildings for Energy Assessment and Upgrades