The Washington Department of Commerce awarded the University of Washington, Bothell and Cascadia Community College $745,000 as part of the Washington State Jobs Act, an initiative to create jobs and save energy costs.
The overall State Jobs Act will create an estimated 660 jobs and will cost $44 million, including more than $26 million of non-state funding.
Gov. Chris Gregoire says, “These projects are a double win for Washington state as they create immediate construction jobs, which is a boon to this industry that has been hit especially hard during the recession. And they create long-term cost savings by making our public facilities more energy efficient, which ensures we get the most value for our taxpayer dollars.”
The UW-Bothell/Cascadia Community College campus received this award because of a submitted proposal titled ESCO (Energy Service Companies) Energy Savings Project. This project will allow many new projects to commence on the shared campus.
Those projects include:
• Recommissioning and tune-ups for existing systems to increase efficiency
• Reducing the size of the existing water meters to save on monthly bills without affecting usage
• Purchasing software to power down a total of 2600 computers campus-wide during the evenings while allowing them to wake up if you log on remotely
• Placing energy-saving film on campus windows to reduce summer heat gain
• Adding destratification fans to the commons area to bring warm air down during winter months
• Providing digital dashboard to display real-time energy usage to enhance awareness
Overall, this project will reduce the UW-Bothell/Cascadia Community College campus’ carbon footprint by more than 920 tons annually.
