Roundtable Members Encourage and Assist Each Other to Reduce Energy Use
and Minimize Environmental and Carbon Footprints

The Energy & Sustainability Leaders Roundtable began its third year of collaboration today by celebrating another achievement by one of its members—a 176-panel solar energy system installed at the Wilmington headquarters of BrightFields, Inc., a regional environmental services firm.  Third District City Council Member Darius Brown hosted a news conference today to congratulate BrightFields, his business constituent, and to encourage other businesses to join the Roundtable.

The Energy & Sustainability Leaders Roundtable is a membership-based forum created in June of 2012 to engage the business and development community in reducing members’ energy use and minimizing their environmental and carbon footprints.  The Roundtable’s goals of reducing environmental and carbon footprints are achieved through building construction and operation as well as through business operations and employee commuting.

BrightFields Chief Financial Officer Don Short, who also served as manager of the solar project, said his firm’s decision to install panels on the roof of their 15,000 square foot building in Wilmington’s 7th Street Peninsula is consistent with the firm’s environmental stewardship charter and grew out of the company’s connection to the Roundtable.  Short said BrightFields has already established a recycling program and an on-site vegetable garden, completed building improvements that have already reduced electricity consumption by 4,182 kilowatt hours annually and is in the process of building a retro-commissioning assessment by Brooks and Wright Commissioning of Philadelphia.

Andrea Kreiner, who coordinates the quarterly meetings of the Energy & Sustainability Leaders Roundtable, said BrightFields decision to invest in energy sustainability was encouraged by the business, development and government representatives of the Roundtable.  She said the group shares information about their respective energy reduction achievements or their plans regarding the future sustainability of their facilities.  Kreiner said members know the success of local, state and regional efforts to reduce energy use and the carbon footprint is more achievable when various interests each do their part for the environment.

Short said the 49 kW solar panel system at BrightFields will replace about 25% of the company’s current electric purchases and save about 137,000 pounds per year of carbon dioxide emissions.  He said excess energy produced will be “sold back” to Delmarva Power as a credit through an Interconnection Agreement.

“BrightFields is excited to support alternative energy options, to increase reliance on clean energy, and to begin, almost immediately, a reduction in our electricity purchase costs,” said Short.  “As a result of the Delaware Green Energy Grant, the Federal Tax Credit and SREC sales, the system should payback in about six years.  SRECs are Solar Renewable Energy Credits; this program is managed by the Delaware Public Service Commission (DPSC) through the Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility (SEU) in concert with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.”  Partners on the BrightFields solar project included local businesses KW Solar, United Electric Supply, Nickle Electrical Companies, and Delmarva Power.

Other examples of energy and sustainability initiatives by Roundtable members include:

AstraZenenca, Wilmington Campus
Energy efficiency and conservation initiatives include paper, plastics and metal recycling; building automation including stop/start optimization and reduced outside air during non-business hours; lighting controls including lighting occupancy sensors that moderate HVAC temperatures; variable-frequency drives utilized on HVAC and chilled water/hot water systems; planned induction lighting in parking garages; a renewable energy (solar) system and compostable cups in the cafeteria.

Barclaycard US, Wilmington
The company began an energy efficiency project in December of 2013 at its Dryrock Facility at 125 South West Street in Wilmington which encompasses the chilled water plant operation, the boiler plant operation and includes an upgraded building automation system to better control the air handling units and the VAV air distribution system.  Results will include a sizable reduction in both electricity and natural gas consumption at the site.  Barclaycard will reduce its energy consumption by 1,930,000 kWh and 107,000 therms of natural gas annually which means an overall reduction of 28% in Barclaycard’s electricity consumption and a more significant reduction of 68% in natural gas consumption.  Barclaycard partnered with the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control on this project and was awarded a $70,750 grant from the Delaware Energy Efficiency Investment Fund.

Seiberlich Trane
Energy service company Seiberlich Trane recently assisted WhiteOptics, LLC, a leading provider of highly reflective, highly diffuse white reflector products for LED and fluorescent lighting, in a custom lighting retrofit project for the entire IM Pei-designed building at 1105 N. Market Street in Wilmington.  The goal of the project was to reduce electricity consumption by over 50% without compromising light levels.  Using patented reflector technology, WhiteOptics engineers designed a custom lighting reflector to perfectly suit the existing light fixtures while simultaneously reflecting and diffusing the maximum amount of light into the space below.  With the addition of the custom built reflectors, Seiberlich Trane was then able to remove two 32-watt fluorescent lamps from each fixture and replace them with only one 28-watt lamp, reducing electricity consumption by 56%.

The Energy & Sustainability Leaders Roundtable
To learn more about your business becoming a member of the Roundtable, please contact Andrea Kreiner at 302-423-2766 or email her at akreiner@verizon.net.  The Roundtable is open to all business and non-profit entities interested in undertaking efforts to reduce their environmental and/or carbon footprints.  The Roundtable meets quarterly and members may join or resign at their discretion.  The members assist one another through sharing case studies of sustainability and greenhouse gas emission/energy use reduction practices already implemented, including both successes and lessons learned from efforts that faced significant challenges.

Current Members of the Roundtable include:

Anchor Health Properties
AstraZeneca
Bank of America
Barclaycard US
BrightFields, Inc.
Christiana Health Care Services
Delaware Supermarkets, Inc. (Shop-Rite)
Delaware Sustainable Energy Utility
Delaware Technical Community College
Green Fabrication Technologies, Inc.
Preferred Electric, Inc.
Seiberlich Trane Energy Services
The Efficiency Network
Wayman Fire Protection