Ameresco and Cambridge Housing Authority Partner On Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy
$1.9 million project features rooftop solar PV system, pays for itself in energy savings
FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, announced today that it has completed the construction of the second phase of an energy performance contract with the Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA). The $1.9 million project expands on a previous effort that is now expected to deliver approximately $300,000 a year in utility cost savings.
The Ameresco project focuses on energy conservation measures at the 196-unit Daniel F. Burns Apartments in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The recently completed upgrades include water saving retrofits, lighting efficiency improvements, roof replacement, and installation of a new, highly efficient heat and hot water plant. The project also features a 46 kW grid-connected rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system.
"In this latest effort at Burns Apartments, we have rekindled an existing relationship with Ameresco in order to leverage additional conservation improvements and clean, renewable technologies," said Greg Russ, CHA's Executive Director. "This second phase significantly expands our conservation efforts, provides capital improvements to the property and also adds renewable energy technology in the rooftop solar photovoltaics. Overall, the program pays for itself, improves the performance of the building and creates good paying local jobs, all of which are priorities for CHA."
Ameresco began working with CHA in 1997 to convert the building's heat and hot water from electricity to natural gas, and to implement basic energy efficiency needs in the Daniel F. Burns Apartments. Together the two phases are expected to save the equivalent of 745 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is roughly equivalent to 1,733 barrels of oil burned or 90 households powered for an entire year.
"Ameresco is pleased to be working with Cambridge Housing Authority to maximize the value of its energy performance contracting program at Daniel F. Burns Apartments," said David J. Anderson, Executive Vice President of Ameresco. "The program's recently completed improvements extend the value of energy savings components that were initiated more than a decade ago. This allows the Authority to invest in new and improved efficiency and renewable energy technologies by leveraging energy programs available in the Commonwealth."
Ameresco's Public Housing Group focuses exclusively on publicly assisted multi-family housing facilities of 50 apartments or more, which includes more than 14 million U.S. households. By leveraging energy performance contracting, a practice pioneered by Ameresco staff to address what HUD spends on public housing energy bills each year, the company has helped to reduce utility costs using a performance-oriented approach that strategically addresses equipment and systems, energy management and resident education.
With more than 25 years of experience, Ameresco's affordable housing energy specialists have executed performance contracts with project capital exceeding $450 million, more than any other North American energy services company in this sector. As of today, Ameresco's contracts impact over 125,000 households under performance-based energy and water services contracts.
About Ameresco, Inc.
Ameresco, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware in April 2000 and is a leading independent provider of comprehensive energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions for facilities throughout North America. Ameresco's solutions include upgrades to a facility's energy infrastructure, and the development, construction, and operation of renewable energy plants. With corporate headquarters located in Framingham, MA, Ameresco has 56 offices in 29 states and five Canadian provinces.
For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.
About Cambridge Housing Authority
Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA) is a national leader in the development, management, and administration of subsidized affordable housing for low-income elderly, family, and disabled households. Their mission is to develop and manage safe, good quality, affordable housing for low-income individuals and families in a manner that promotes citizenship, community and self-reliance.
In addition to owning and managing over 2,600 units of state and federally subsidized low-income housing, CHA operates a "Local Leased Housing Program" consisting of more than 2,800 state and federally subsidized mobile and project based housing vouchers used to rent private units in the Greater Boston Metro Area.
CHA participates in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's groundbreaking Moving to Work Deregulation Demonstration (MTW). MTW provides CHA with regulatory flexibility that is generally not available to Public Housing Authorities. CHA uses this flexibility to explore new ways to provide affordable housing, education and paths to economic independence to the City's low-income families, elders and individuals with disabilities.
For more information, visit www.cambridge-housing.org.
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Source: Ameresco
Released July 12, 2011
