Sustainable Jersey
At a Glance
Industry
Nonprofit
Project Types
Commercial Energy Efficiency, Data Analysis
Year
2021
Location
Ewing, NJ
Summary
Ariela helped New Jersey municipalities track energy usage and take advantage of state and utility incentives for energy efficiency upgrades.
Goals
Sustainable Jersey is a non-profit organization that provides sustainability certification for over 450 municipalities and 950 school districts in New Jersey. Ariela worked with Sustainable Jersey to help the Borough of Ocean Gate and the City of Asbury Park track energy use of all municipal buildings in order to assess costs and identify opportunities for energy efficiency upgrades. She provided assistance with applications to state and utility incentive programs that best fit her clients’ goals.
Solutions
Ariela implemented the following approach to assist her municipalities:
- Analyzed utility usage and cost for a total of 11 municipal buildings.
- Established an energy baseline and developed a management and tracking process for each client, including instructions on how Green Teams can continue to monitor performance.
- Applied for 1 NJ Clean Energy Program’s Local Government Energy Audit (LGEA) for the City of Asbury Park that will provide a free Level 2 ASHRAE audit of all municipal buildings to identify opportunities for energy efficiency improvements.
- Applied for 3 Direct Install incentives from New Jersey Natural Gas for the Borough of Ocean Gate that will provide free on-site audits of 3 municipal facilities and cover up to 80% of energy efficiency upgrades for these buildings.
- Developed a fleet inventory for all municipal vehicles of Asbury Park.
- Prepared applications for 6 Sustainable Jersey actions that provide municipalities with points towards sustainability certification.
- Outlined next steps and recommendations for each client that would allow the implementation of energy efficiency upgrades into the future.
Potential Impact
Ariela’s work set a foundational energy management framework for both municipalities to continue tracking and assessing energy use. The LGEA and Direct Install applications she prepared for each municipality will result in reductions in energy use and energy related expenditures once efficiency measures are implemented. The various applications Ariela prepared for Sustainable Jersey certifications created momentum for the municipalities to pursue additional actions, further improving their environmental impact. Ariela’s work will set a precedent for these municipalities to continue researching state and/or utility energy efficiency incentives in the future.