Partnership Conjures Up Real Energy Savings
Our focus? Serious energy savings. And by serious, I mean 30% continuous savings on utility bills for businesses and other facility owners spending $1,000,000 or more annually on energy consumption.
PA CHAMBER BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY - Catalyst Magazine, Spring 2015
Business Magic – Pennsylvania Dutch speaks French Canadian
by: Carl Godlove
There are times in business when magic just “happens,” and I love it when it does. In this case, the magic is swirling in a cauldron of blossoming friendships and professional relationships between our Pennsylvania company, SSM Group, Inc. (ssmgroup.com), and Ecosystem Energy Services (ecosystem-energy.com), a Canadian-based company headquartered in Quebec City with a U.S. presence in Manhattan, NYC. We met at a large common client last year, and the synergies between us came together almost immediately. Better yet, the direct beneficiaries of this partnership are businesses and institutions across Pennsylvania.
Our focus? Serious energy savings. And by serious, I mean 30% continuous savings on utility bills for businesses and other facility owners spending $1,000,000 or more annually on energy consumption.
The SSM/Ecosystem partnership is a classic example of the whole being many times its parts. Our combined expertise and decades of experience in Building Engineering and Deep Energy Retrofits comes together powerfully. The cumulative energy savings resulting from Ecosystem’s 20-year project history is climbing toward $200,000,000 this year, with the added benefit of a reduction of nearly 350,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.
Our partnership is timely. Pennsylvania’s Act 129 requires the four largest electric utilities in the state to reduce their customers’ electric consumption by offering programs and rebates to every customer class. These programs are paid for by all electric users through a line item charge on every monthly bill, whether a customer engages in these programs or not. There are rebates for lighting, appliances, HVAC systems, energy audits, and even self-generation. The primary focus is the reduction in the use of electricity. Several of the Act 129 programs, however, can be used to achieve even greater cost savings through non-electric heating fuel reductions, an approach that goes to the core of our expertise.
As Pennsylvania’s utilities prepare a third round of financing energy reductions under Act 129, the real question for institutions and businesses is not “if” but “how” to implement. The answer can begin with a simple analysis of energy bills or a full-scale facility audit, for which the local utility will likely pay half the cost. Knowing that many facility managers and owners cannot take the time or spend the money for an audit, we take a different approach to quickly get to the very highest value savings – “Energy Use Intensity,” or “EUI,” to benchmark your site against others in your industry. And we do it at no cost. A “Go” decision at this point means that your savings are both guaranteed and sufficient to fund the required capital projects. And while the standard metric for industrial facilities measures energy used per quantity of finished product, rather than square feet of manufacturing space, the business approach remains the same: We prove the savings first.
EnergyStar describes EUI as, “the energy a building uses per square foot each year, with a lower number signifying better efficiency and less total energy used.” Being able to measure what your facilities consume against others in the same industry represents an opportunity to keep costs in line and maintain an even competitive playing field. Peter Hansen, Manager of Office Space Facilities at SEPTA’s headquarters notes, “The energy-efficiency improvements made to 1234 Market Street have certainly helped lower the building’s operating costs. This has been a primary draw for many of our tenants.
To judge how much can be saved, we begin by calculating a site’s EUI to clarify the opportunity and solicit funding. When a hospital’s management team in New York discovered their building’s EUI was 138% the national average, they got motivated to make changes, securing $4,100,000 for an efficiency project. After implementation, their energy bills dropped by over $600,000, representing 39% in savings. Ecosystem CEO, André Rochette, notes the importance of aligning goals from the start: “Our ability to improve building performance stems from a corporate culture of collaboration and commitment to results and agile processes that let us design and build with the end result in mind. We believe we should always be held contractually responsible to our customers for those outcomes.”
SSM and Ecosystem are partners on a mission - “Enhance the Quality of Life” across Pennsylvania. Our self-funding projects not only lower operating costs and preserve capital for hospitals, schools and universities, residential and commercial complexes, manufacturers, and office and government buildings, they also create jobs and improve the environment. Our turnkey solution covers the full project lifecycle, from analysis and design through construction, commissioning, and continuous follow-up. Our partnership is not just a business... it’s a passion. Pennsylvania Dutch is officially speaking French Canadian. Let the magic begin.
Celebrating National Parks Week
Wastewater Treatment Plant Emergency Assessment
Daniel Boone Homestead
Daniel Boone Homestead
Wastewater Treatment Plant Emergency Assessment
- Conducted site investigations and evaluated appropriate technology and the feasibility of planned improvements to method of proceeding to develop an environmentally sound and technically feasible solution for wastewater collection and treatment.
- Developed preliminary sizing, design requirements, costs, permitting, and regulatory requirements.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Patrick McCoy, PE, LEED AP, Division Vice President, Facilities and Site Engineering
the Source - January 2015
Source Water Protection News: regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, new technologies
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
David Morgan, RLA Named Chair PA State Board of Landscape Architects
David Morgan, RLA, Regional Vice President for SSM Group, Inc. has been appointed chair of the Pennsylvania State Board of Landscape Architects.
“The balance of beautiful outdoor spaces and technically-sound designs depends on the expertise of Landscape Architects and the work of the licensing board is essential in maintaining the high quality of professionally-licensed Landscape Architects in the Commonwealth.”
David Morgan, RLA, Regional Vice President for SSM Group, Inc. has been appointed chair of the Pennsylvania State Board of Landscape Architects.
As a professional member of the State Board of Landscape Architects, Mr. Morgan will participate in regulating the licensure and registration of landscape architects in order to promote the general welfare and safeguard the life, health and property of citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Mr. Morgan was appointed to the board in 2012 by Tom Corbett, former Governor of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Morgan has over 26 years of landscape architecture and land development planning experience. In his current role, he serves as the Central Pennsylvania Regional Vice President for SSM Group, Inc., a multidiscipline consulting engineering and planning firm, headquartered in Reading, PA.
Mr. Morgan is responsible for the day-to-day business operations of the firm’s Harrisburg office along with managing all phases of landscape architecture and site design for the firm from conceptual design and master planning through production of construction documents and presentations to governmental agencies. His experience includes subdivision planning, storm water management, and land development planning; recreation facility planning; site design; grading; landscaping; soil erosion and sediment control; site construction inspections; NPDES/NOI permit preparation; review and commentary of engineering plans for local government agencies and municipalities; PENNDOT Highway Occupancy Permits; feasibility studies, cost estimates, and securing project approvals.
He holds an A.S. in Commercial Arts & Design from Antonelli Institute of Art & Design and is a Registered Landscape Architect in Pennsylvania.
Scott Carl, Sr., joins SSM Group
Mr. Carl will direct the water and wastewater services for the firm including all aspects of water and wastewater engineering services, municipality and authority representation, water and wastewater treatment operations, treatment plant design, construction phase engineering, and regulatory compliance assistance.
SSM Group, Inc., a multi-disciplined engineering and consulting firm welcomed Scott Carl, Sr. as the Vice President Water and Wastewater Services. Mr. Carl will direct the water and wastewater services for the firm including all aspects of water and wastewater engineering services, municipality and authority representation, water and wastewater treatment operations, treatment plant design, construction phase engineering, and regulatory compliance assistance.
Mr. Carl has more than 28 years of experience in the engineering and consulting industry; his experience includes project management and construction management for water and wastewater systems including treatment plants, pre-treatment facilities, source water facilities, pumping stations, residuals handling, water storage, transmission, distribution, and collection systems, SCADA and telemetry systems, automatic metering systems and operation and maintenance programs.
SSM Group, Inc. serves government, education, healthcare, industrial, and commercial clients in Pennsylvania, across the United States and in the Caribbean. SSM offers extraordinary experience in the planning, design, and construction management of wastewater and water systems, piping systems, pumping stations, and treatment plants. We offer solutions for tomorrow through far-sighted water and sewer infrastructure and environmental planning. When it comes to managing and protecting water resources, SSM is the authority that everyone turns to.
the Source - September 2014
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Energy Efficiency is Good for the Bottom Line
SSM performs Energy Analysis in accordance with ASHRAE's Procedures For Commercial Building Energy Audits. The analysis is performed in steps and a value judgment made at the end of each step as to the benefit of proceeding to the next level.
SSM performs Energy Analysis in accordance with ASHRAE's Procedures For Commercial Building Energy Audits. The analysis is performed in steps and a value judgment made at the end of each step as to the benefit of proceeding to the next level.
Preliminary Energy Use Analysis - Develop the Energy Utilization Index (EUI) of the building.
Level I Walk-Through Analysis - A Level I energy analysis will identify and provide a savings and cost analysis of low-cost/no-cost measures.
Level II Energy Survey and Analysis - A Level II energy analysis will identify and provide the savings and cost analysis of all practical measures that meet the owner's constraints and economic criteria, along with a discussion of any changes to operation and maintenance procedures.
Level III Detailed Analysis of Capital-Intensive Modifications - This level of engineering analysis focuses on potential capital-intensive projects and provides detailed project cost and savings calculations with a high level of confidence sufficient for major capital investment.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Bruce Bell, PE, LEED AP, Sr. Technical Director, Mechanical and Plumbing Services
the Source - April 2014
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
the Source - January 2014
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Source Water Protection News
Regulatory and legislative updates, best practices, and new technologies.
Protecting your water begins with your land
The Eastern Lancaster County (ELANCO) Source Water Collaborative hosted a workshop entitled, Protecting Your Water Begins with Your Land. The workshop invited government, the local farming community, and environmental organizations to comingle and learn about new findings in farming best management practices.
Elanco Source water collaborative
ELANCO Source Water Collaborative
The Eastern Lancaster County (ELANCO) Source Water Collaborative hosted a workshop entitled, Protecting Your Water Begins with Your Land. The workshop invited government, the local farming community, and environmental organizations to co-mingle and learn about new findings in farming best management practices.
Although the theme of the workshop was farming best management practices, the underlying theme in each presentation was communication. Whether it was a member of a federal agency, a conservation organization or a representative of the Mennonite community, each person that spoke promoted respecting differences, seeing from all points of view and coming together to work towards a better balance of environmental conservation and profit maximization.
The event’s keynote speaker, Ray Archuleta promoted soil health in an informative way that simply made sense. Using fantastic demonstrations, he showed how conventional farming techniques strip the soil of nutrients and the ability to form aggregates and hold water. By improving the health of the soil, not only do we increase farmers’ yields, but we also prevent soil runoff and erosion, improving our water quality. Ray’s speech was so engaging that during the exhibition session, farmers crowded around him to discuss the topics further.
The workshop was an eye opener, not only for the community, who was there to learn about, or possibly criticize, the suggestions the workshop was providing, but to the educators, environmental activists, vendors and agency workers. No one in the room expected such a successful workshop and for so many different people to get along so wonderfully. It really inspired hope that we can work together on these critical issues.
If you’d like more information on soil health, you can check out some of Ray’s demonstrations on his Vimeo page at http://www.vimeo.com/channels/raythesoilguy.
The videos are short (about a minute for most) but really do say a lot.