Village gets grant funding for energy-efficient lighting for Fire Station 1

LOMBARD, Illinois—The Village of Lombard recently received the final approval letter from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, as well as Illinois Clean Energy, approving grants to be used to replace/retrofit Fire Station One (50 E. St. Charles Road) with more energy efficient lighting.

The grant was written by the Community Development Department's Plan Reviewer/Inspector II Keith Stieskal. The project is estimated to cost $14,154 and the two grants will cover 100% of the cost of the project.

“The grant will allow us to change all the lights or retrofit them in the entire fire station to more efficient lighting,” Steiskal said, “thus reducing the Village's carbon footprint.”

Work on the project will begin after the first of the year and is expected to conclude in the spring. The contractor for the project is All Tech Energy, Inc.

The Fire Station lighting project is only one way the Village has been looking to conserve energy and use less electricity. A move to install motion sensors in conference rooms, restrooms and certain offices will also begin in 2012. These are all reflections of a sustainability framework program for the Village, previously adopted by the Village Board.

“We are trying to be proactive when it comes to efficiency,” Steiskal said. “We are taking a look at all grants that could be relative to government buildings to see if they would be beneficial to us,” he added.

The lighting project at the Fire Station will not be disruptive to the daily work schedule.

During the past few years, all Village departments have been looking at various ways to save money, reduce village expenditures and combine resources yet still deliver the same quality services that Lombard residents expect to receive.

The replacement or retrofitting of the lighting at the fire station will save energy and make the village more efficient in this area.