M Focus on: Maintenance & Operations
How one Colorado municipality is leading the charge in sustainability, one building at a time
By LAUREN CAGGIANO | The Municipal
A global pandemic couldn’t keep the city of Arvada, Colo., from reaching its sustainability goals. In partnership with Ameresco, the municipality recently announced the energy conservation and renewable energy project. Ameresco is an independent provider of comprehensive services, energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, asset sustainability and renewable energy solutions for businesses and organizations throughout North America and Europe. This relationship will help Arvada in its quest to implement more renewable energy solutions. Financed by a $4.5 million Energy Savings Performance Contract, enhancements to infrastructure will guarantee energy cost savings and an overall reduction in energy usage. 34 THE MUNICIPAL | JANUARY 2022
Kim Vagher, facilities division manager, said the project represents the culmination of years of efforts on this front. “My No. 1 role is to maintain the 18 different facilities that we have, including incorporating energy management,” he said. “We started a renewable program,
ABOVE: Arvada, Colo., worked with Ameresco to refurbish 15 facilities starting in January 2020 to reduce energy consumption. Arvada has also embraced solar energy. (Shutterstock.com)
about four years ago now, to put in solar. That program is pretty much complete because we’ve got about 70% solar in our facilities.” Working closely with city staff, Ameresco refurbished 15 facilities starting in January 2020 and made significant upgrades to those facilities’ building envelopes, lighting and plumbing systems. The HVAC systems at Arvada City Hall and the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities were updated, as well. Additionally, photovoltaic systems were installed at five facilities.
