RCEA energy audit reviews/Coast Central Credit Union

Coast Central Credit Union

The Coast Central Credit Union is a financial institution working to provide credit at manageable rates, as well as other financial services, promote thrift and community development in Eureka and the surrounding areas. Coast Central Credit Union has 19 ATMS and 11 memeber service branches throughout Humboldt County, some of the locations include: Fortuna, Eureka, Mckinleyville, Arcata, and Willow Creek. The retrofit was done at one of the Eureka branches located in the Bayshore Mall.

Redwood Coast Energy Authority

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority' mission statement says:The Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s (RCEA) purpose is to develop and implement sustainable energy initiatives that reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency, and advance the use of clean, efficient and renewable resources available in the region. All of RCEA’s funding comes from contracts and grants, bringing resources to Humboldt County that would not otherwise be available.RCEA was formed in 2003 as a Joint Powers Authority (JPA), representing seven municipalities (the Cities of Arcata, Blue Lake, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Trinidad and Rio Dell) and Humboldt County.^[1]

The Retrofit

In April 2008 the RCEA retrofitted the Coast Central Credit Union's (CCCU) office space lighting and replaced the existing lights with brighter and more energy efficient light fixtures.

Costs

The installation cost $2,176.19 After an instant rebate of $919.86 the CCCU ended paying $1,256.33 for the retrofit.

How do they like it?

According to the site manager Gerry Davis "The retrofit was a great success! The new lights are wonderful, now it is always bright enough in the office." At the office they are very pleased with the new lights because the older lights that they had been using "were not bright enough at times" and now they can always "easily work under bright new lights." commented Gerry Davis. Light use habits did not change significantly after the retrofit, lights are turned on from 9-5 and during that time they are more content with the lights than prior to the retrofit.

Can you see the difference?

In the year before RCEA's retrofit the average energy used by the coast central credit union was about 2800 KWH each month. Over the months since the retrofit the energy consumption at the office has steadily decreased to 1360 KWH, and as a result the CCCU saved $191 from last August's energy bill.

Estimated Savings from the Retrofits

The RCEA estimated that the Coast Central Credit Union would benefit in the following ways:

They would save $797.70 per year
Their CO₂ emissions reduced by 2,487 lbs/year
They would reduce energy use by 4,784 kWh/year
They would reduce power use by 1.854 kW

Actual Savings from the Retrofits

Energy

The total energy used in April 2007 to April 2008 was 37,150 KWh. The energy used in April 2008 and April 2009 after the light upgrade was 28,960 KWh. The difference of the two gave us the total amount energy saved, 8,200 KWh. This figure is actually much higher than the projected amount of KWh saved from the retrofit, the amount Redwood Coast Engery Authority said was about 4,784KWh

CO₂ saved

Using the pounds CO₂ per KWh from RCEA's estimation we derived a lb to KWh ratio of .519. We used with the total energy 8,200KWh to calculate the reduction in pounds of CO₂ which was 4,255 pounds of CO₂.

Money saved

Using the RCEA's average price per KWh of $.16676 and multiplying it to the amount of KWh saved is $1,367 for a year and $114 a month. Which is significantly greater savings from the projected RCEA estimates. At this rate of saving it will only take 11 months for the CCCU to make back the money invested into new light fixtures. (Total cost of the retrofit/monthly savings=Time to break even~$1,256.33/$114/month=11 months)