Environmental Leader

The city of Portland, along with Portland Community College  (PCC) and other county facilities, are receiving $7.2 million in federal stimulus money for energy-efficient building upgrades and improvements to lighting and heating systems, reports OregonLive.com. The money will fund 97 projects across the state.

As an example, the city of Portland will receive $535,000 in federal stimulus money for energy-saving government building upgrades, with $15,000 slated for a revamp of the heating and cooling system, which should cut the building’s electricity bill by $4,000 a year, reports OregonLive.com.

The Portland Community College will get $1 million for a campus retrofit, and another $14 million from various sources, including $9 million from bond sales approved by Portland voters last year, according to the newspaper.

The $15-million project is aimed at turning the Sylvania campus into a “net zero” site, where all energy is generated on site and all carbon emissions are offset, reports OregonLive.com. Upgrades cited in the article include the installation of a 1.1-megawatt natural gas generator and monitoring of heating and air conditioning systems, which will cut the campus’s carbon output by 57 percent and reduce energy spending from $1.6 million a year to $440,000.

In addition, Multnomah County will receive nearly $1 million to upgrade its lighting and heating systems, and the county jail laundry will receive $375,000 to save on dryer heat, reports OregonLive.com.

Other projects cited include new lighting and energy digital-control systems for the Portland Building, which houses several of the city’s largest bureaus, and lighting and heating upgrades at four SmartPark garages.