April 10, 2013

Williamson County riding the green wave

| From staff reports

As a wave of green technology sweeps the nation, the trend is beginning to catch on in WilliamsonCounty. Here is a sampling of some of the area’s green buildings, initiatives and offerings:

BRENTWOOD

Peartree Village EV charging stations

Where: Peartree Village shopping center, which is anchored by Harris Teeter, on Franklin Road

When: Installed in March 2012

Description: Property owner Regency Center is installing Blink Level 2 electric vehicle chargingstations at many of its shopping centers throughout the nation. But not all get the treatment. Beforesetting up stations for a customer’s hybrid and electric vehicles, the company considers thedemographics of each area where the property is located. “Peartree Village was a no-brainer since itserves Nashville, Brentwood and the Belle Meade areas that have a high interest in this type oftechnology,” said Ward Williams, senior property manager for Regency Center. “We just want to provideour customers, who include our tenants, with the best things as we can. And that includes a wide arrayof services such as the EV stations.”

Stanley D. Lindsey & Associates tenant build-out

Where: 5500 Maryland Way, #250

When: It was Tennessee’s first LEED for Commercial Interiors-certified project when approved by theU.S. Green Building Council in 2008.

Description: The project doesn’t take in the whole four-story building, just 10,500 square feet of officespace, or about a third of the second floor. In order to be certified, the project was awarded points foreach “green” initiative undertaken, said Michael Corrin, executive vice president of structural engineeringfirm Stanley D. Lindsey & Associates. Thomas, Miller & Partners developed a floor plan that allowed thefirm to re-use all of its existing workstation furniture and seating when it moved to the new offices, savingmoney, reducing raw material needs and limiting packaging waste. In addition, conference room doors,casework and lighting fixtures from the previous office also were reused. More than 20 percent of thematerials used contained recycled content; more than 20 percent of the products used weremanufactured locally; and more than 34 percent of the raw materials in those products were extractedlocally. The project received “green” points for high-efficiency light fixtures connected to occupancysensors, the thermally zoned mechanical distribution system, and a two-year contract for renewableenergy that was purchased to offset all of the firm’s energy use.

Brentwood EV charging stations

Where: Two bays each at the Brentwood Municipal Center, 5211 Maryland Way, and BrentwoodLibrary, 8109 Concord Road

When: Installed December 2011

Description: Adding the electric car charging stations gives Brentwood a stake in the nationwideElectric Vehicle Project, which installed 15,000 charging stations throughout the country. A grantfunded up to $4,500 of each site’s installation costs. Brentwood paid an additional $2,500 for both sites.

Franklin

Wastewater plant solar panels

Where: 135 Claude Yates Drive

When: May 2012

Description: City of Franklin and Tennessee Valley Authority officials installed 940 solar panels atoppart of a former sludge field at Franklin’s wastewater treatment plant to convert sunshine into electricalpower.

Franklin didn’t pay anything to have the panels installed, and the project is expected to net more than$400,000 over the course of a 20-year contract with Nashville-based Energy Source Partners, thecompany that installed the panels. The panels generate about 200 kilowatts, which is sold to theTennessee Valley Authority.

Franklin has earned approximately $10,000 in the first 10 months of generation, according to AndrewOrr, city sustainability coordinator.

The city currently keeps 20 percent of the revenue from the sale of power to TVA. The money isdeposited into a revenue-expense account to help fund future energy conservation projects for the waterdepartment, Orr said.

Franklin is the first Williamson County city to have a solar array and only the second Tennessee city tohave embarked on a private / public partnership to get the panels set up on city property.

Police headquarters heat, water systems

Where: 900 Columbia Ave.

When: Opened in 2010

Description: Franklin’s new police headquarters opened in 2010 with several energy-saving andenvironmentally friendly features, including a 32,000-square-foot green roof, a geothermal heatingsystem and an underground cistern to store water after rain for reuse in the building.

The green roof and the underground cistern help keep water from flowing off-site.

“Certain areas of downtown are prone to flooding, so the more water that can be absorbed or reused on-site, the better,” said Andrew Orr, Franklin sustainability coordinator. “The green roof, combined with thegeothermal system, significantly help control utility costs for the building.”

As for cost savings, city Facilities Project Manager Brad Wilson has compared the energy bills for thebuilding to similar structures and said the roof cuts the costs to nearly one-third.

Podiatry Insurance Co. parking garage

Where: 3000 Meridian Blvd.

When: February 2013

Description: The LED retrofit of Podiatry Insurance Co. of America’s underground parking garage isexpected to reduce energy consumption for lighting by more than 75 percent. The change lowers carbondioxide production by 120 tons each year, avoids burning 51 tons of coal annually and is the equivalentof planting 30 acres of forest each year, according to LED North America, which completed the project.

SPRING HILL

GM plants energy reduction initiatives

Where: 100 Saturn Parkway

When: Throughout 2011 and 2012

Description: Last year, General Motors Spring Hill’s stamping and engine plants joined 52 other GMfacilities in meeting a voluntary energy-reduction challenge set by the Environmental Protection Agency,cutting energy intensity by 27 percent and 16 percent, respectively, in less than a year. They now meetthe EPA’s Energy Star Challenge for Industry for reducing energy intensity by 10 percent within fiveyears.

In Spring Hill, the reduction kept 13,867 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere andreduced annual energy costs by more than $1 million.

Employees benchmarked energy use through energy management systems, standardized processesfor the shut-down of equipment and upgraded to more efficient heating and cooling systems.

Previously, the plant replaced thousands of light fixtures with high-efficiency fluorescent lighting;donated more than 200 million pounds of crushed concrete for school and road projects in MauryCounty; updated paint process to use more environmentally-friendly chemicals and reduce waste; andplanted native grasses, perennials and annuals to enhance on-site wildlife habitats.

Water treatment plant upgrades

Where: 3893 Mahlon Moore Road

When: Completion expected June 26

Description: The city of Spring Hill’s $14 million expansion of its wastewater treatment plant has beenunderway for more than a year and is nearing completion.

It initially was to be a $16 million project until the city secured a grant allowing for $2 million of loanforgiveness from the State Revolving Loan Fund because the project design included several greenfeatures.

For instance, all of the motors used in the treatment process are high-efficiency, with variable-frequencydrives that allow them to operate at varying speeds depending on need, and they use far less electricity.Energy-efficient lighting was added. Also, the advanced, five-stage biological treatment process“polishes the water” and avoids adding environmentally harmful nutrients to local waterways wherecleaned effluent is discharged.

The plant will reuse more wastewater than before. Of the 938.3 million gallons of wastewater Spring Hillprocessed in 2011, about 26.1 million gallons of additionally treated effluent — 2.78 percent — weresent by pipeline to a pond at King’s Creek Golf Club, which uses it to irrigate the course.

Kohl’s EV charging stations

Where: The Crossings at Spring Hill shopping center

When: January 2012

Description: The Kohl’s store in The Crossings partnered with ECOtality to install electric vehiclecharging stations in the parking lot in front of the store.