Kane County lays out plan for energy conservation

The $2.46 million in federal stimulus money Kane County will receive will only go so far, but at least half the money might lead to revelations in how to trim the budget by shrinking utility bills.

County staff laid out the plan for how to use the money Wednesday at meeting of the county board's Energy & Environmental Committee. The committee is charged with "greening" the county, but has zero budget to back its efforts. The stimulus money will function as the committee's working budget for the year. Since the stimulus funds are specifically earmarked for energy conservation, that will be the default focus of the committee for the remainder of the year.

County-owned buildings will be the primary focus. The county will spend at least $1.25 million of the stimulus money to audit its buildings for ways to cut energy use and trim utility bills. The lights are already being left off during most daytime county board meetings in support of the effort.

The second-biggest chunk of the grant money (up to $750,000) will help develop and implement improvement to the fiber optic network that controls traffic signals on county highways and road systems. The idea is to improve real-time traffic flow.

The remainder of the funding will go to:

• Establishing a revolving load fund for energy efficiency improvements to non-county public buildings and nonprofit facilities (up to $750,000).

• A bus rapid transit analysis to possibly cut traffic by improving public transportation (up to $550,000).

• Creating a regional training program on energy-efficient building techniques for local contractors and builders (up to $100,000).

• Creating new and additional methane gas capture processes for power generation at existing county landfills (up to $50,000).

The committee also viewed presentations on how current and future ideas for conserving water through the use of rain barrels and backyard rainwater recapture systems (that double as decorative ponds) could be implemented. Staff also has ideas for better use of landscaping outside public buildings to keep buildings cool, and how to utilize runoff water from parking lots and rooftops.