The Village of Bayside is a quiet, predominately residential community located on the shores of Lake Michigan. Just ten miles north of downtown Milwaukee, Bayside offers residents the opportunities of “big city” living while remaining a safe, family-orientated place to live, work and play.
Bayside, a community of just over 4,100 residents, is one of the seven communities that comprise the North Shore. With beautiful Lake views, historic presence and a high quality of life, Village residents have come to expect the highest form of service delivery. Unfortunately, the Village was not immune to the same financial struggles suffered by many as the global economy faltered in 2009. The reduction in Wisconsin state shared revenue, interest rate shortcomings and increasing health care costs, and other adverse financial factors impacted the ability to achieve those expectations.
With intertwined areas of emphasis, the Village implemented several core “Green” initiatives to reduce the Village overall carbon footprint, enhance energy efficiency, promote environmental stewardship in the community, and provide leadership in enhancing our environmental friendliness. The approach was multi-faceted and included green Building, Village Operational and Procedural, Community, Regulatory and Communication initiatives.
The Village aggressively pursued each initiative and implemented measurements and benchmarks to identify the successes and areas of opportunity. Two areas of most significant focus were the Village’s facility energy consumption reduction initiative and collection services efficiency enhancement initiative.
Beginning in 2008, the Village established a performance benchmark of reducing total Village building and facility energy (gas and electric) consumption by 10 percent in year 1 and 2% for the next three years. To help reach these goals, the following initiatives were implemented:
- Enrolled in the Energy Star for Local Governments program through the US EPA.
- Adopted Wisconsin Office of Energy Independence 25×25 Resolution.
- Conducted audit of energy efficiency identifying additional areas of opportunity to conserve energy.
- Installed energy efficient HVAC system in Village Hall/Police Department facility with 6.6 year payback.
- Installed energy efficient lighting in public works maintenance facilities.
- Installed motion sensor and zone lighting in common areas and large areas.
- Adjusted thermostat temperatures and timing of their operation to reflect building usage patterns.
- Relocated thermostats to more accurately reflect actual temperatures.
- Reduced facility vending machines from 4 to 1 multi-function machine.
For 2010, the Village’s goal was to continue this reduction by reducing overall consumption by an additional 3 percent across the board. Overall, energy consumption has reduced consistently for the past three years for both gas and electricity.
For more information about Bayside, please click here.