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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOshkosh Sustainability Plan - Energy Utilities Facilities DRAFT - 25 July 2025Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT Chapter: Energy, Utflitfes, & Facilitfes Introductfon The City of Oshkosh maintains millions of dollars of assets and liabilitfes in buildings, facilitfes, infrastructure, and more. Nearly all of these assets consume energy in the form of electricity or natural gas and have limited lifespans that demand their eventual replacement. Sustainable management of these assets requires intentfonal planning to reduce their resource consumptfon and operatfonal efficiency to reduce environmental impacts and strain on the municipal budget. These assets also provide essentfal services to residents in the form of clean water, sewage disposal, street lightfng, and more. Every community member in Oshkosh pays for these services, either directly through utflity bills or indirectly through taxatfon, making it in every person’s best interest to manage the City’s assets sustainably. This chapter addresses energy efficiency, renewable energy, sustainable water, stormwater and wastewater management, and reductfon of utflity consumptfon. When it comes to energy, older buildings and infrastructure can be very inefficient in their energy consumptfon, wastfng finite natural and economic resources, but green energy and energy efficiency improvements can reduce these impacts. When it comes to utflitfes and infrastructure, electricity, natural gas, and telecommunicatfons are not directly controlled by the City of Oshkosh. The City does, however, pay bills for these utflitfes on all infrastructure owned by the municipality. Other utflitfes like drinking water and sewage are mostly under the control of the City and represent significant costs to both the City as a provider and community members as customers. Reducing overall utflity consumptfon with more sustainable practfces and investments can pay off in the long term. This chapter navigates innovatfons in sustainable technologies and recommends solutfons that are the best fit for Oshkosh. Past Accomplishments The City of Oshkosh has already made progress towards sustainability with the following accomplishments: • Launched Aquahawk system to help customers monitor water pipe leaks and save money • Completed an Energy Audit and have a Comprehensive Energy Plan underway to reduce building energy consumptfon, including: o Switching to energy efficient LED lightfng o Using variable frequency drives (VFD) for industrial equipment o Saving money with WE Energies rebates on new HVAC systems o Using the Energy Star Portiolio Manager for public assets (in progress) o Using renewable energy for solar powered lightfng (streetlights, beacons), installing solar-ready infrastructure at public buildings, and recycling methane waste to heat the wastewater treatment plant • Reduced natural gas consumptfon in municipal facilitfes by 15% between 2022 and 2024 without increasing electricity consumptfon, despite constructfng new facilitfes • Actfvely working to centralize government facilitfes and locate them more efficiently Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT Background Green Construction. Building constructfon and energy consumptfon are top contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, landfill waste, and environmental impacts. Green constructfon technologies promise to reduce building energy consumptfon, environmental impacts, and human health impacts, among other benefits. While investfng in green constructfon technology is sometfmes costly up front, it often pays for itself over tfme in cost savings from reduced energy consumptfon. Further, a lot of popular technologies might be considered “green” by some people but simply common sense by others, such as switching to more energy-efficient mechanical systems, using better insulatfon, and installing LED lightfng. There are several strategies that can be used to promote green constructfon practfces. Green building certfficatfons such as LEED include an easy-to-use checklist that provides a score to buildings for how sustainable they are (with levels of Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.). Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy program provides technical assistance, guidance, and recommendatfons for what to include during building constructfon or renovatfons to reduce energy costs. Additfonally, building energy modeling can forecast a new building’s energy consumptfon based on an intensive process of considering trade-offs during a building’s design development. Energy modeling can be cumbersome, typically reserved for buildings seeking green building certfficatfons that need to track and report their results. Benchmarking is another useful practfce gaining popularity that involves measuring energy use across a range of buildings and aggregatfng that data to determine how a building’s energy consumptfon compares to other similar buildings. Benchmarking data is increasing as more entftfes partfcipate or require reportfng of energy benchmark data. Requiring private buildings to report energy benchmarking data is a relatfvely new practfce for municipalitfes in the State of Wisconsin, with Milwaukee and Madison beginning to require some larger buildings report benchmark data in recent years. As benchmarking reportfng data becomes available, it will be a useful resource for others to invest in reducing their buildings’ energy use. Finally, some entftfes choose to work towards more advanced building codes beyond what is required by law in the State of Wisconsin which is the 2015 Commercial Internatfonal Energy Conservatfon Code (IECC). A more recent building code could be used, or a different, more energy-efficient code altogether could be used such as the ASHRAE Standard 90.1.1 Implementfng more efficient standards in new buildings is an easy way to reduce energy consumptfon in new buildings in a way that is aligned with common practfces in the constructfon industry, because standards like ASHRAE 90.1 are widely used. However, this approach is limited to public buildings in Wisconsin due to state law. While municipalitfes in Wisconsin cannot require stricter energy building codes by law on private buildings, they can implement stricter codes for municipally controlled propertfes or incentfvize the use of stricter codes in public private partnerships. Choosing strategies to make the City of Oshkosh’s municipal buildings “greener” is not a one-size-fits-all approach. The costs and benefits of various optfons need to be weighed for each project. Complex constructfon projects may benefit from more intensive strategies to help reduce total energy Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT consumptfon to the greatest possible extent. Smaller and mid-size projects may benefit by following best practfces for energy efficiency and following programs like Focus on Energy instead of investfng too much Creating a Green Construction Checklist: There are a few common green constructfon checklists used by governmental and non-governmental organizatfons to advocate for sustainable building improvements in constructfon projects. The City of Oshkosh can use a green constructfon checklist to pursue a standard set of sustainability improvements in municipal constructfon projects. Rather than adopt an existfng checklist wholesale, the City can create a custom checklist to advance the City’s specific sustainability goals. A green constructfon checklist for the City of Oshkosh could include some of the following items found in some of the most prominently used examples: o Constructfon actfvity pollutfon preventfon o Constructfon and demolitfon waste management planning o Local building material sourcing/lower embodied carbon o Site selectfon: brownfield instead of greenfield o Habitat protectfon or restoratfon o Environmental feature protectfon (woodlands, wetlands, etc.) o Minimum green space/landscape area requirement (i.e. ~30%) o Green stormwater management (green roof, bioswale, natfve prairie, etc.) o Reduced parking footprint o Green vehicles (EV charging, clean diesel, alternatfve fuels, etc.) o Stormwater infiltratfon o Manage rainfall on site o Light pollutfon preventfon, uplightfng eliminatfon o Bird-friendly design (window treatments, lightfng design, etc.) o High albedo roofs and surfaces o Comply 10-30% above the current IECC o Renewable energy productfon o Right-sized HVAC systems o ENERGY STAR appliance and window purchasing and management o Air sealing building envelope (with provisions for adequate ventflatfon) o Recycling collectfon o Indoor air quality performance o Joint use of facilitfes (multfple users), including shared parking Implementatfon of a green constructfon checklist would depend on the type of project. During procurements, a percentage of scoring criteria could be dedicated to how much of the green constructfon checklist a given contractor is qualified to deliver. For internal decision making, a set number of green constructfon checklist items (i.e. 10 out of 20 items) can be set as the minimum for any project. More resources for green constructfon checklists can be found here at the Green Building Informatfon Gateway for examples of similar checklists that can be borrowed from and adapted to Oshkosh: https://www.gbig.org/places/6792 Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT tfme in strategies that deliver less benefits. Keeping energy efficiency at the forefront of new constructfon projects ensures that decisions between what materials, technologies, and designs are used consider energy efficiency as a top priority. Adaptive Reuse. Adaptfve reuse is often cheaper and faster than demolitfon and rebuilding new facilitfes, but it can be difficult to determine exactly when to demolish a building. There are many reasons to adaptfvely reuse or preserve an existfng building: • Reduced environmental impacts from demolitfon and new constructfon • Cost savings from building reuse • Cost savings from avoiding site preparatfon, mobilizatfon, permitting, etc. • Historic preservatfon, cultural, and aesthetfc value, including historic preservatfon tax credit availability • Prevent the loss of limited undeveloped “greenfield” land • Solid waste reductfon • Supply chain constraints and tariffs on importfng new building materials However, sometfmes demolitfon and new constructfon are justffied. There are many reasons why demolitfon of an existfng building may be preferable to adaptfve reuse in some contexts: • Building layout lacks suitability for different uses • Inefficient/ineffectfve site layout of building(s) • Large scale of materials needed for reuse is comparable to that of new constructfon • Removal of hazardous conditfons in the existfng building is cost prohibitfve, technically infeasible, or unacceptably dangerous • Local, sustainable materials are readily available for new constructfon • Existfng building materials are easily reclaimed and reused for other buildings and diverted from landfills • Building is blighted or condemned Acknowledging the various pros and cons to adaptfve reuse listed above, the following reasons should not generally be used to justffy new constructfon: • Lower design costs for new constructfon compared to reuse: While design costs may be higher for adaptfve reuse projects, they are typically offset by cost savings from the reduced constructfon costs. • Lack of historic/cultural value in the existfng building: Just because a building holds minimal historic/cultural value should not deter from whether it can be effectfvely reused. Aesthetfc improvements should be considered as part of the overall adaptfve reuse opportunity, and it stfll dramatfcally reduces environmental impacts to save almost any building that can be reused. • Vacancy of existfng building(s): Vacancy alone should not justffy demolitfon. There may be barriers to occupancy that can be addressed through reuse as long as the building and site layout are conducive to other uses. It should be noted that, as the energy mix (the mix of fuel we consume to generate energy, i.e. coal, natural gas, oil, geothermal, wind, solar, etc.) becomes greener, the relatfve environmental impact of new constructfon may increase compared to adaptfve reuse because the higher energy demand of existfng buildings is offset by the greener energy mix over the long term. Therefore, it is reasonable that adaptfve reuse could become increasingly sustainable in terms of energy consumptfon. However, if an existfng building stfll needs to be rehabbed for reasons other than energy efficiency, it may stfll be Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT greener to build something new based on the factors listed above. The decision to build new vs. adaptfvely reuse is unique to each site, building, and intended use. Solar Energy. Despite the potentfal eliminatfon of the 30% direct pay federal tax credit provided by the federal Inflatfon Reductfon Act for renewable energy, solar remains a cost-competftfve energy source that represents enormous cost-saving opportunitfes. Generally, solar has become cheaper, more effectfve, and more efficient. According to the US Department of Energy and the Internatfonal Renewable Energy Agency, the total cost of solar generatfon fell 70% between 2010-2023 to about $0.12/kWh. This is slightly cheaper than East Central Wisconsin’s average energy prices. These increases in cost efficiency have decreased the average return-on-investment (ROI) period, down from 15-20 years to 6-12 years for a typical solar energy investment. Following the initfal investment period, municipalitfes can save tens of thousands of dollars by generatfng electricity via solar. The Department of Energy predicts that by 2026 almost all new electric generatfon capacity will be produced by solar, wind, and batteries. Wisconsin ranks around the middle of all states in terms of solar energy as a proportfon of all energy generatfon at about 2.3%. Compared to the United States average of 5.3% and the State of California at 27.5%, there is a lot of room to grow with solar in Wisconsin. However, Wisconsin does produce the second greatest solar generatfon in the Midwest, only behind Minnesota’s lead at 3.6%.2 In Wisconsin, there are typically two optfons for adoptfng solar: direct ownership, where the municipality pays more up front to own the solar equipment and benefits from the full financial value long term; or third-party ownership, where the municipality pays very little up front to a separate entfty that owns the solar panels. With third-party solar, the municipality does not reap the full financial value over the long term. Third-party ownership is typically arranged through Power Purchase Agreements (PPA). There are ongoing legal challenges to third-party ownership in Wisconsin, so it is important to be aware of the latest court decisions regarding them. Other forms of renewable energy: While solar is the fastest growing form of renewable energy and the fastest growing form of energy overall due to its scalability, flexibility, universality of applicatfon, and rapidly decreasing costs, there are other forms of renewable energy that may be applicable to certain use cases in Oshkosh. Waste-to-energy processes take an existfng resource, usually solid waste, and turn it into a fuel rather than paying to dispose of it. Oshkosh already utflizes waste-to-energy processes in the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) by combustfng biogas from human waste and convertfng it to energy. In fact, the amount of gas produced by this process is sometfmes more than can be immediately consumed, resultfng in the need to flare the remaining gas and combust it as a waste product. Untfl recently, the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (UWO) also created biogas, but has since retfred the use of their anaerobic digester system and converted it to combined heat and power (CHP). It is not clear whether acquisitfon and use of the digester by the City of Oshkosh would save money as compared to finding energy from other sources and paying for the disposal of solid waste, but there are benefits that merit further investfgatfon including reduced carbon emissions and waste diversion from landfills. Excess power created from waste- to-energy processes could be a form of energy that can be stored in batteries for backup systems or added to the energy grid. Revenue can also be generated by charging tfpping fees to process Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT things like dairy waste and manure more sustainably. However, these benefits need to be compared to the cost of landfill disposal to be cost effectfve form of waste disposal. Geothermal, a common resource in the Midwest, is another form of energy generatfon, but relies on locatfonal suitability with geothermal resources present. UWO uses multfple geothermal systems that provide power to portfons of the campus at very low costs. The Student Success Center and the Horizon Village Residence Hall both include geothermal energy systems and have achieved LEED status.3 Typically, the barriers to adoptfng geothermal energy include high upfront costs, but larger users like hospitals, universitfes, and governments are more likely to use them because of the benefits: • 24/7 power generatfon • Long facility lifespans • Less environmental impact from hazardous waste disposal compared to solar energy While geothermal may not save a large amount of money over its lifespan, it stfll tends to save money, and it has substantfally lower carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels. It typically takes 7-12 years for a geothermal energy system to pay for itself through cost savings.4 Wind power is not generally explored in this plan because at a large scale it tends to be suitable for more rural or offshore areas and emerging technologies for small-scale wind energy generatfon are less established. Despite this, the State of Wisconsin has passed laws protectfng the right to install wind energy systems and they may be an acceptable supplement to the community’s future energy goals. Energy efficiency and weatherizatfon are just as, if not more, important as transitfoning to renewable energy. Investments in energy efficiency and weatherizatfon improvements can help existfng buildings consume less energy, save money, and reduce environmental impacts. Weatherizatfon upgrades that improve insulatfon and sealing envelopes are often the most cost effectfve and high-impact upgrade that can be made to older buildings. However, in larger buildings like the Oshkosh Public Museum, it can also pose challenges with indoor climate regulatfon of temperature and humidity that need to be considered. In additfon to weatherizatfon, municipal buildings are being upgraded with more energy efficient appliances, hardware, and mechanical equipment like HVAC systems, lightfng, and computer systems. The City is working on managing these assets with the Energy Star Portiolio Manager, a tool provided by the US Environmental Protectfon Agency to identffy devices that are more energy efficient compared to the industry average and provide better overall performance. This program also provides rebates and incentfves for certain purchases that the City uses to save money on these upgrades. Focus on Energy is a Wisconsin utflitfes program that helps communitfes navigate energy efficiency and renewable energy resources. The program maintains a database of resources for financing and funding projects.5 Each region in Wisconsin has a dedicated Focus on Energy liaison that is tasked with helping energy users navigate the resources and incentfves offered by the program. DSIRE also maintains a similar database.6 Life-cycle costs should also be considered when investfng in energy efficiency improvements. Compared to a basic capital budgetfng approach, life-cycle analysis provides a long-term perspectfve on ensuring Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT that the replacement cost of a capital expense is accounted for. Life-cycle costfng (LCC) is discussed in greater detail in the chapter on Governance, Educatfon, & Outreach. For additfonal informatfon on the resources outlined in this chapter, check out: 1 ASHRAE 90.1 Standards: https://store.accuristech.com/ashrae/standards/ashrae-90-1-2022-i- p?product_id=2522082#jumps 2 US Department of Energy Quarterly Solar Industry Update: https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/quarterly-solar- industry-update?nrg_redirect=362606. 3 UW-Oshkosh Green Buildings: https://www.uwosh.edu/sirt/green-buildings/ 4 Wisconsin Geothermal Associatfon | Frequently Asked Questfons: https://wisgeo.org/faq/ 5 Focus on Energy financial resources for renewable energy and energy efficiency: https://focusonenergy.com/financial-resources 6 DSIRE financial resources for renewable energy and energy efficiency: https://programs.dsireusa.org/system/program/wi . Goal(s): a) Conservation: Reduce energy and resource consumptfon of all municipal facilitfes to the greatest extent possible to reduce costs and promote efficiencies. b) Renewable energy: Transfer all municipal facilitfes to renewable energy to the greatest extent possible to reduce environmental impact. c) Maintenance and inspections: Use an asset management approach for municipal utflitfes and services to preserve current level of service and anticipate life-cycle costs. d) Impacts and hazards: Reduce any hazards from municipal operatfons while also accountfng for potentfal co-benefits from alternatfve solutfons to achieve positive outcomes beyond reducing negative impacts. Removed because no relevant recommendatfons or issues were identffied. Could be restored if needed. Recommendatfons 1. Resource Conservation. Develop practfces to reduce energy, water, and supply consumptfon for all City facilitfes. o Lead Responsibility: General Services - Facilitfes o Time Frame: Priority (<3 years) o Implementation Details: for priority recommendations only ▪ Contfnue to train staff on resource conservatfon procedures. ▪ Install low flow faucet aerators and high efficiency toilets in all municipal bathrooms to conserve water. ▪ Contfnue to reduce printfng paper consumptfon by creatfng electronic systems to manage documents. ▪ Place educatfonal posters at waste disposal statfons informing users of what is acceptable to recycle, tailored to the recycling operatfons at local facilitfes. ▪ Place educatfonal posters at elevators informing users of the high energy demand of elevators and encouraging stair use for 1-2 story trips. Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT ▪ Consider practfces to power off electronics such as computers at night without disruptfng City operatfons. 2. Energy Retrofits. Contfnue to install lightfng, building envelope, energy management, HVAC, and renewable energy upgrades to municipal buildings to reduce energy consumptfon. o Lead Responsibility: General Services - Facilitfes o Time Frame: Priority (<3 years) o Implementation Details: for priority recommendations only ▪ Complete an energy audit (or update the prior audit) and assessment of all municipal buildings and facilitfes to track energy use (electricity and gas) over tfme. ▪ Implement the recommendatfons of the 2025 Comprehensive Energy Plan. ▪ Consider utflizing energy benchmark data for municipal buildings to determine the greatest opportunitfes for achieving increased efficiency through retrofits. Coordinate with other Wisconsin citfes like Milwaukee and Madison to access this data as it becomes available. ▪ Contfnue to use Energy Star Portiolio Manager or a similar system to track and manage energy efficient appliances and mechanical equipment. ▪ Contfnue to upgrade municipal buildings with solar-ready infrastructure. ▪ Seek to install solar panels on all municipal buildings where appropriate. ▪ Utflize energy saving lightfng control optfons that can automatfcally turn on/off lights 3. Waste-to-Energy Plan. Consider conductfng a waste-to-energy plan to explore the possibility of expanding the City’s waste-to-energy productfon systems as part of the wastewater treatment plant. The plan should compare the costs and benefits of acquiring the existfng digester from UWO and saving money on power generatfon and waste disposal costs, including revenue- generatfng tfpping fees from external waste sources. o Lead Responsibility: Wastewater Division o Time Frame: (Medium (3-5 years) 4. Permeable Surfaces. Contfnue to incorporate increased landscaping, green stormwater infrastructure (rain gardens, green roofs, permeable pavement) and reduced pavement on municipal propertfes. o Lead Responsibility: Forestry Division o Time Frame: Priority (<3 years) o Implementation Details: for priority recommendations only ▪ Work with green infrastructure installers to include maintenance agreements in contracts for the establishment phase (3-5 years) of plantfngs to ensure proper establishment. ▪ Consider providing Natfonal Green Infrastructure Certfficatfon (NGICP) to at least one municipal staff person to be able to monitor projects. ▪ Dedicate sufficient resources to the maintenance of existfng landscape and green infrastructure facilitfes before investfng in new facilitfes. ▪ Seek to minimize the total amount of impervious surfaces created when constructfng new municipal facilitfes. Oshkosh Sustainability Plan 2025 30 July 2025 DRAFT 5. Green Construction. Contfnue the pursuit of green constructfon practfces for new constructfon and renovatfon of municipal buildings and development on municipally-controlled land. o Lead Responsibility: Community Development Department; General Services Division - Purchasing o Time Frame: Medium (3-5 years) o Implementation Details: for priority recommendations only ▪ Create a green constructfon checklist that lists sustainable building practfces that align with the City of Oshkosh’s sustainability goals. (Same as Land Uses & Economic Development implementation detail under Sustainable Construction.) ▪ Include the green constructfon checklist as a proportfon of the scoring criteria in RFPs for municipal facility constructfon procurements. ▪ Consider adaptfve reuse of existfng buildings as a first priority for expanded municipal space, comparing the trade-offs between preservatfon and demolitfon and accountfng for the co-benefits of historic preservatfon, waste reductfon, and more. ▪ Celebrate and promote green constructfon practfces as part of opening new facilitfes. 6. Purchasing. Contfnually update City procurement procedures to include purchasing of energy efficient devices and sustainable energy as part of relevant projects. o Lead Responsibility: General Services Division - Purchasing o Time Frame: Ongoing 7. Outdoor Lighting. Contfnue to upgrade outdoor lightfng to high efficiency LED and/or solar lamps (e.g. street lightfng, parks, athletfc fields, etc.) o Lead Responsibility: Electrical Division o Time Frame: Ongoing 8. Consolidation. Explore ways to share facilitfes and services with other governmental entftfes. o Lead Responsibility: City Manager o Time Frame: Long (5-10 years)