Geneva adopts ‘green’ practices for city work

Nothing is too small when it comes to Geneva’s energy- and waste-reduction plan for city facilities.

From using variable-speed motors at water wells and exhaust fans, to having workers car pool to meetings, to using used paper for scratch paper, an employee committee has focused on ways to save on electricity, water, natural gas and gasoline use.

Those practices will become policies, since the council adopted the “Green Team Handbook” this week.

The handbook is a result of a goal set in the city’s strategic plan, said Karla Kaulfuss, chairman of the committee and the city’s historic preservation planner.

Whether people agree on such matters as global warming and the greenhouse effect, “Energy efficiency can save energy and saving energy usually means saving money,” Kaulfuss said.

The committee decided to document what the city was already doing before recommending what to do in the future, she said.

Alderman Ray Pawlak asked if the committee had determined what money has been saved by measures undertaken versus what it cost to implement them. That was done for the remodeling of city hall, including the installation of a new HVAC system, Kaulfuss said.

“I think it would be wise if we were able to identify what our base is,” Pawlak said, and factor in the cost. He said he was certain the city was doing the right thing, but that as a fiscal conservative, “Is it the best bang for our buck?”

Dozens of practices are listed in the handbook. They include reusing office supplies; having employees who work off-site take their breaks at the work site instead of traveling back to city facilities; using hybrid-fuel vehicles, such as the Prius assigned to streets Superintendent Steve Lemaire; reusing gas generated by the sewage digesters to fuel the heat exchangers at the sewage treatment plant.

It suggests conducting more energy audits, studying electronic record-keeping, and offering incentives for employees to car pool, walk and ride bicycles to work. And in keeping with the goal of using less paper documents and more electronic ones, the committee likely won’t publish a paper version of the handbook. It will be filed as a PDF.