County to begin energy remodel

Whitman County will begin as soon as next month on an energy-efficiency renovation of the buildings on the courthouse campus.

Facilities Manager Bob Reynolds told county commissioners Monday they will begin the first phase of an energy upgrade system designed by Seattle-based McKinstry.

Commissioners in February authorized a $40,935 contract with McKinstry to study the courthouse’s energy use and find potential cost savings.

Reynolds said the first step from that study is to replace the heating and cooling systems atop the jail and public service building.

Reynolds said the current “chillers” are around 40 years old and use outdated heating and cooling technologies. The current system constantly blows air through the buildings with the heat turning up in the winter and the cold turning up in the summer.

Reynolds said the county will save in utility costs with the new system, which, he said, will blow either hot or cold air as needed.

The current system is so old, he said, that the county can not find a contractor to service it.

Commissioners Greg Partch noted he has heard complaints from neighbors of the jail about the high levels of noise emitted from the chiller.

Repair costs will be funded through a low-interest loan from the state’s Department of General Administration Facilities Division.

Commissioner Pat O’Neill said the loan will be structured to allow the county to repay it based on its savings in utility and maintenance costs.

The firm is also looking into the cost of putting a new cooling system in the information technology building. Late last year, the county’s computer system crashed after overheating in the building.

The county in 2002 issued $2.7 million in bonds to fund energy improvements to the courthouse. Partch said savings from the windows, lights and heating and cooling system purchased for the courthouse with those proceeds have paid off in energy savings.

A little more than $500,000 remains from that bond. That money can only be used on the courthouse itself, not the campus. Plans are to use that to remodel the courthouse and make it more easily accessible to the handicapped.