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Do you turn the faucet off when you brush your teeth? What about turning off the light when you leave a room at night? These two small acts of energy conservation may not seem like a lot, but when combined with the hundreds of thousands of people who live in Albuquerque, it can quickly add up.
When Mayor Martin Chávez said the City of Albuquerque would increase the amount of energy it’s conserving, he set the bar for everyone in the City, and the state of New Mexico to aim for.
At the end of March, the Mayor issued an executive order that establishes high performance green building standards for City projects. As part of the Energy Conservation Council’s Annual Report, the Mayor in his letter preceding the report wrote:
“We do not have a limitless source of energy, and we want to be able to sustain our great city for generations to come. Therefore, I am requiring any new city buildings 5,000 square feet and above, or any building that uses more than 50 KW of energy will be required to meet the ‘silver’ standard. Also, all renovations of existing city buildings requiring two of the three major system replacements meet a United State Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification and that all other renovations, repairs, and replacements employ best green building practices.
The use of green buildings practices can improve employee productivity, improve building operational performance, reduce building operating costs, and improve compatibility between the natural and built environments. Also, due to their energy efficiency and other features, green buildings tend to receive a relatively high degree of public attention, increasing the exposure of any renewable energy systems they incorporate.
The City of Albuquerque is saving energy in other ways, for example, every light in every traffic signal in the City of Albuquerque will be converted to LED (Light Emitting Diode). So far, every red light and nearly 60% of green lights have been changed to LED. The old traffic signals were costing nearly $800 a month, once the conversion is complete, the monthly cost will be around $80 a month. That’s a savings of more than one million dollars a year.
It doesn’t matter if it’s one family, or the entire City working to conserve energy we all need to do it together.”
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