City of Nashua
Energy Manager
229 Main Street - Nashua, NH 03060 (603) 589-3265
Date: 10/6/2020
TO: Mayor Donchess
Board of Aldermen
FROM: Doria Brown, Energy Manager
SUBJECT: Nashua School Energy Performance Contract with EEI
The Energy Manager is seeking to inform the Board of Aldermen and Mayor of her support for the Nashua
School District’s performance energy efficiency contract with EEI :
Unfortunately I am unable to attend tonight’s Special Board of Aldermen meeting on the authorizing the school’s
energy performance contract and lease finance agreement. I wanted to write this memo in support of the contract
because the improvements included in this agreement will benefit Nashua North and South High Schools
tremendously when it comes to energy efficiency upgrades. The upgrades in this contract include, most notably,
improvement to lighting (with the switch to LEDs), controls for the HVAC systems, as well as weatherization
upgrades. These improvements are necessary to keep up with the overall maintenance of these buildings so it makes
sense to ensure that these improvements are as energy efficient as possible.
Using a performance contractor, such as EE], is a way to get these kinds of improvements done in a timely and cost
effective manner. As these kinds of improvements can be expensive in upfront costs but also deliver major energy
cost savings over the lifetime of the new equipment installed. It is important to note that doing all of these
improvements together in a single contract instead of piece by piece helps keep costs down for
installation/equipment and maximize energy savings as decreases in energy consumption will be realized at the
same time. For example, it does not make sense to improve an HVAC system if you do not also fix the drafts in a
building first.
On the energy saving side of things I have calculated about a 45% energy consumption savings from both high
schools, combined, which is a really big deal. Energy bills for these schools, combined, cost the district about $1.2
million/per year. Doing these upgrades have a cost savings of about $460 thousand/per year while the lease
agreement payments will be about $450 thousand/per year. ‘The rational here is that the lease payments will be 10k
less than the energy savings promised which puts the project in the green when it comes to net savings over the
project lifetime.
1 also wanted to bring up the City’s climate goals which include a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for
municipal buildings by 2025. With the school district accounting for 63% of the City’s municipal emissions with
7.9 tons of carbon equivalents emitted in our baseline year these projects alone would bring us 64% closer to our
20% reduction goal which is extremely significant.
As Energy Manager I see a cost effective energy saving project here in this lease agreement and do not see any
reason why we should not move forward.
Best Regards,
Doria Brown, Energy Manager
