CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – November 16, 2012 – The new district services campus for the Cedar Rapids School District is a lesson all its own. Visitors can see the benefits and appeal of energy-efficiency because of work with Interstate Power and Light Company, an Alliant Energy company. The new building opened this year and is a consolidation of several other buildings used by the district.
Because the building’s designers worked with Alliant Energy from the start, it was efficient and effective to install energy-saving measures. Some of the more notable tools include geo-thermal heat pumps, insulated garage doors, added insulation on the roof and walls, special windows, and building-wide lighting controls.
“These strategic investments will help the school district better control its costs,” said Superintendent David Benson, Cedar Rapids Community Schools. “What makes this even better is that this is a highly-visible public building, and it’s important to incorporate sustainability efforts where people can see them and be inspired.”
By adding these tools, the building will use about 1,380,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) a year less than a typical building without the upgrades. In addition to the energy savings, this project qualified for an incentive of $243,000 through Alliant Energy’s Commercial New Construction program.
“The Commercial New Construction program gets customers to think about energy-efficiency from day one. The early start makes it efficient and easy to achieve greater energy-savings,” said Mayuri Farlinger, Alliant Energy key account manager. “With Alliant Energy’s energy-efficiency programs, our customers reduce operating costs during the life of the building.”
Alliant Energy offers the Commercial New Construction program to assist owners and design teams in evaluating potential energy conservation strategies for new and renovated building projects. The customer, project design team, and utility personnel work together from the start of the conceptual design. They use building performance simulation modeling to identify and implement cost-effective energy efficiency approaches that improve the overall energy efficiency of a building. To qualify, the enhancements must create energy savings of at least 15 percent greater than projected energy use if the facility strictly followed the Iowa building code.
The Commercial New Construction program can be utilized for new commercial buildings and major remodeling projects. It is available to Alliant Energy retail electric and gas customers located in its Iowa and Minnesota service territory. For more information on Alliant Energy’s Commercial New Construction program, visit alliantenergy.com/newconstruction or call 1-866-ALLIANT (866-255-4268).
Media Contact: Justin Foss, 319-786-4788