The Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC), Santiam Correctional Institution (SCI) in Salem, Ore., is implementing $1.85 million in facility enhancements designed to improve operations, comfort and efficiency in four buildings with approximately 96,000 square feet. Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, will complete the work as a performance contract with the DOC. Schneider Electric guarantees that SCI will reduce its utility and labor costs by $335,000 annually when the project is completed in December 2009. News in Alternative Energy Resources.

SCI is a 400-bed minimum security facility that operates a community reintegration program that assigns inmates to supervised work crews in the community and provides other services for inmates prior to their release from prison. Due to code requirements to continuously staff the facility’s high pressure boilers, SCI’s operational costs to monitor the boilers exceeded all of the institution’s utility costs. The facility was also energy inefficient and lacked an effective building automation system.

“SCI initially received funding to replace the steam boilers to reduce operational costs. Schneider Electric found a way to keep the boilers and significantly reduce operational costs without sacrificing functionality of the system,” said Jim Poore, senior project manager, ODOC Facilities Services. “Schneider Electric’s solution was significantly less expensive than a wholesale replacement of the boiler system as originally planned. This allows the remaining dollars to fund numerous other improvements needed to reduce energy use, improve comfort and provide needed upgrades to the building to reduce the deferred maintenance that will have to be addressed in the future.”

Performance contracting offers many long-term benefits for correctional facilities, such as improved facility efficiency, occupant comfort, financial management and environmental protection. Typically, new, more efficient equipment and upgraded facility automation systems maximize energy efficiency and generate utility savings. Schneider Electric guarantees the amount of savings performance contracting projects will achieve and agrees to pay the difference if that amount is not realized.

To meet the challenge of reducing costs and improving efficiency, Schneider Electric applied a variety of energy conservation measures. First, engineers re-evaluated the plan to remove the two functional steam boilers that were in excellent condition. They determined that by reducing the pressure on the boilers from 45 to 14 PSI, the facility could still get the heating it needed and eliminate the need for continual staffing. Next, Schneider Electric examined the building management system, which had been abandoned because of age and missing hardware, leaving the staff to manually adjust valves and turn fans on and off. With no way to utilize the mechanical system to bring in cool air at night and noninsulated metal frame windows, the building quickly warmed up in the summer, with temperatures often rising to 110 degrees. Through this project, Schneider Electric will significantly reduce the peak temperatures in the summer by upgrading to a web-based direct digital control (DDC) control system, reducing lighting loads with lighting controls and retrofitting fixtures, installing modern thermal windows, and adding insulation and circulation in the attic. The staff will have full control and visibility of current conditions through the new control system. Schneider Electric partner Control Contractors, Inc. of Portland, Ore., will install a TAC I/A Series control system in the facility.

“Properly coordinating scheduling and necessary security are the biggest challenges to working in correctional facilities,” said Shon Anderson, vice president of Energy Solutions sales, Schneider Electric. “The nature of the facility and the fact that it must be operational and occupied 24/7 require that we must be careful to ensure that the work does not compromise security and has minimal disruption to the occupants.”

When the project is completed, not only will the SCI facility be more comfortable, but it will also be more efficient. Schneider Electric estimates that as a result of the reduction in energy use, 314 tons of carbon will not released. This is equivalent to planting 12,575 trees, taking 68 cars off the roads for one year, or making 41 houses carbon neutral.

janchavarie Economic Issues, Environment and Energy, Oregon

County efforts to entice the federal government to build a “green prison” near a Raft River geo-thermal plant were suspended Monday. Story in the Times-News.

Cassia County Commissioner Clay Handy said commissioners voted to cancel the county’s contract with consulting firm New West Strategies after the prison proposal failed to show up on any federal budget.

“You know we rolled the dice,” Handy said Tuesday. “And if you don’t play you never win.”

Cassia and Minidoka county officials co-signed the New West contract, and the counties were splitting the $5,000 monthly consulting bill. The contract required a 30-day notice of cancellation.

Minidoka County Clerk Duane Smith said Minidoka County commissioners voted to cancel the contract on Monday as well.

New West Strategies was founded by former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig and Michael O. Ware, and was hired by the counties in October to lobby federal officials to bring the $300 million medium-security prison to the area. The prison would have partnered with the Raft River U.S. Geothermal Inc. plant. U.S. Geothermal officials could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

“It didn’t show up in the president’s or the House Appropriations budgets,” Handy said. “We just needed a little more assurance that it was a higher priority, for us to continue on with the contract.”

Handy said county officials spoke with the state’s congressional delegation about putting the prison in the county. Having state officials up to speed on the issue will be a plus if the opportunity is presented again, he said.

County officials will keep close tabs on any opportunities that may arise in the future, Handy said.

“It’s one of those things you have to jump on quick,” Handy said.

Handy said he doesn’t feel the right people were in place this time to swing a decision in the direction of the southern Idaho site.

“It most likely would be a political decision,” Handy said.

Handy said if federal money were in place to build a “green prison” right now, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., would probably be able to influence decision-makers to locate it in his state.

Some questioned whether Craig and his firm had enough influence with Congress to get the job done.

Steve Carpinelli, media manager for The Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C., said although Craig and his senior Senate staffers could not lobby any member of Congress or congressional staff members until January 2011, employees of Craig’s firm were free to lobby.

Handy said the federal government has funded four other prisons and picked sites but construction has not begun on any of them yet.

janchavarie Environment and Energy, Idaho, Jail and Prison Construction

South Asia’s largest prison — Tihar Central Jail in New Delhi — is hoping to become the first in the world to go green, by using renewable energy, recycled waste and cutting its electricity consumption. Story reported by the AFP.

The size of a small town, the vast complex in the west of the Indian capital has 10 prison blocks, covers 160 hectares (395 acres) and is massively overcrowded.

Close to 11,500 inmates, most of them men, are currently crammed into its functional, barely sanitary cells — nearly double the prison’s authorised capacity.

But the prison director-general, B.K. Gupta, wants to improve living conditions for the inmates, most of whom are on remand awaiting trial, and make it environmentally-friendly.

“We want to achieve international standards and more than that. It’s a small city here, we have a lot of open area,” said the former police officer, who launched an audit several months ago.

Tihar is ideally placed to become what he called “the world’s first green prison” in the next three years as it has the space, notably for gas plants to meet the facility’s energy needs.

Piped natural gas fuel has been used to cook food in the kitchens for the last 25 years. There are also rainwater harvesting systems to keep ground water levels topped up.

Two sewage treatment plants are being set up to recycle water for horticulture and sanitation.

The government is putting in half the money for the 9.65-million-rupee (210,000-dollar) “greening” project, which aims to recycle tonnes of household waste in four biogas facilities set up near the prison’s kitchens.

The target is to cut greenhouse gas emissions and the prison’s 45-million-rupee annual electricity bill, eventually saving the authorities millions of rupees every year.

Biomass gasifiers fed with sawdust from wood pruned from the many trees on site and offcuts from the prison workshop where 350 people make furniture for sale to the public will help provide fuel for cooking.

A solar-powered heating system is also planned for water provision. The inmates use 30,000 litres of water every day.

Gupta explained that during the winter period from November to March, inmates will no longer have electricity from 7:00 am to 9:00 am and between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm.

“They don’t need electricity in the mornings. They do their yoga or meditation outside the cells,” he said.

In summer, when the temperature can rise to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit), fans will be kept on so prisoners “don’t suffocate, like in other jails in Asia,” he added.

Elsewhere, lightbulbs in the cells and administrative offices will also be replaced with low-energy alternatives, allowing a 50 to 70 percent reduction in electricity consumption.

In the infirmary of the women-only block of prison number six, one female doctor was happy to hear of the proposed changes — but wants the authorities to go further.

“We don’t have specialists here. And we also need a lot of new equipment, not only for energy,” she added, looking at the iron-framed beds on which a number of inmates lay asleep, wrapped up in the covers.

janchavarie Environment and Energy, India

A high school ecology class has helped to make a central Illinois prison a little greener. Reported in the Chicago Tribune.

Pontiac Township High School teacher Paul Ritter says 14 of his students developed a recycling program that began last week at the Pontiac Correctional Center.

Ritter says prison staff approached him to come up with a recycling plan after realizing that more than 14,000 plastic bottles each month were being thrown away at the facility.

Pontiac prison houses more than 1,600 inmates.

Ritter says his students overcame a big obstacle in developing the plan — they weren’t allowed to visit the prison or see any images of it.

The new system allows inmates and staff to recycle bottles and paper.

Officials hope the plan can be expanded to other prisons.

janchavarie Environment and Energy

A loss of open space and the potential for resulting development of the rural area are unavoidable impacts from a proposed new, 7,200-bed jail in Whitewater. Complete report on The Desert Sun.

A draft environmental impact report, released by Riverside County officials Wednesday, describes the effects resulting from planning, constructing and operating the proposed jail facility, which would be built with 2,000 beds in an initial phase and could be expanded to 7,200 beds.The report also identifies appropriate, feasible mitigation measures and alternatives that may be adopted to reduce or eliminate impacts.

“It’s a step that must be completed before we can move forward. So at this point, it’s the most important step so far,” said county spokesman Ray Smith.

The report deems numerous potential environmental impacts — including traffic, noise, light pollution — “less than significant.”

“From the looks of it, there’s no silver bullet that would kill this project or any project like this. That’s good news,” Riverside County Supervisor Marion Ashley said.

But some opposed to the controversial jail location dispute that classification, saying the report downplays many negative impacts on the surrounding community.

“That’s typical Riverside County planning,” said Les Starks, president of the homeowners association in nearby Snow Creek and an opponent of the proposed jail location.

“Nothing will have any effect on anything. This will be fine because this is what they want.”

The public now has until Jan.15 to comment on the report, the normal 45-day comment period being extended due to upcoming holidays.

The jail is proposed for a nearly 200-acre site at the intersection of Rushmore Avenue and Tamarack Road on the north side of Interstate 10.

The Whitewater location preferred by county officials has garnered intense criticism from several Coachella Valley leaders, who argue it would be an eyesore along the highway, create public safety concerns and ultimately deter tourists from coming to the desert. A group of civic leaders has urged the county to look at land just outside Desert Hot Springs.

Report continues on The Desert Sun.

janchavarie CA Riverside County, Environment and Energy, Jail and Prison Construction

The New York Times‘ Green Inc blog recently published an interesting survey of environmental projects within the corrections’ industry.  A sample:

Instead of reporting to the laundry or the kitchen or the boiler room, a Washington state prison inmate may report to the compost heap [if they are] taking part in a “green work” program at the Cedar Creek Corrections Center. Inmates grow organic produce, compost the prison’s food waste, take part in ecological research projects with a nearby university, and even produce honey from the prison’s own hives.  The Washington State Department of Corrections boasts 34 LEED-certified facilities, with 923,789 square feet of LEED-certified space added in fiscal year 2008 alone …

This fall, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced 16 new green retrofitting projects, which they estimate will save $3 million in energy costs each year. The state already has solar power fields at two facilities, and plans to build six more in the coming year. A new $176 million juvenile detention facility in Alameda County — home to Berkeley and Oakland — recently became the country’s first jail to receive LEED gold certification.  Other green projects — from wind turbines to biomass boilers — have been announced by Departments of Corrections in Virginia, Nevada, and Indiana…

Ken Ricci, of Ricci Greene Associates, is currently working on a new $120 million detention center in downtown Denver, which the company plans to submit for LEED certification. “There’s a recognition that sustainable, or ‘green’ design, is actually a plus for a population that’s confined 24 hours a day,” Mr. Ricci said. “Environment cues behavior. If you treat people like animals, they behave like animals.”  Mr. Ricci … says design elements that earn LEED points, like daylighting and access to views, also improve security. “If you treat them like human beings — that is to say, there’s daylight coming in, the noise level is at a normative level — therefore your adrenaline level goes down, therefore your stress level goes down, the inmates feel safer.”

jakking CO Denver County, California, Colorado, Environment and Energy, Indiana, Jail and Prison Construction, Nevada, Virginia, Washington

The agency that runs Louisiana’s prisons is trying to cut costs by turning kitchen grease into biodiesel fuel.

State Rep. Tom McVea … warned state Department of Corrections’ officials that they will have to be creative.  “Y’all got quite a challenge on your hands. … There’s got to be some innovative thinking,” McVea said during a meeting of the legislative Subcommittee on Public Safety and Corrections.   With state general fund revenue expected to drop by $1.2 billion in the upcoming budget year that starts July 1, agencies are slashing travel, halting hiring and looking for other ways to trim costs …

The corrections department is vulnerable because 88 percent of its $543 million budget comes from the state general fund, which is suffering a downturn in revenue. The agency spends 70 percent of its budget — or $382 million — on salaries and benefits.  The agency’s undersecretary, Thomas Bickham, said his agency is trying to cut costs through privatizing services such as food.   He said the department also is buying equipment to turn kitchen grease into biodiesel fuel.  “We produce a lot of grease at our institutions. We fry a lot of food for these guys,” Bickham said.

There is more information from The Advocate.

jakking Economic Issues, Environment and Energy, Food Services, Louisiana

Two California desert prisons are corralling more than just prisoners. They’re harnessing solar energy to power everything from washing machines to lethal high-voltage perimeter fences.

The state is among those with mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and the prison solar system efforts underscore its position as a national leader in renewable energy efforts … The state plans to install photovoltaic solar power systems that convert sunlight to electricity in at least six more prisons.  At peak production levels, the prisons can get a quarter of their energy from the solar setups. State officials expect to save $100,000 in energy costs per year, per prison …

The prisons, Ironwood and Chuckawalla Valley, are located next to each other, about 90 miles east of Palm Springs in the Mojave Desert, in the southern half of the state … Ironwood State Prison incarcerates some 4,700 male felons. Chuckawalla Valley State Prison houses another 3,900. The prisons’ populations range from minimum to medium security. Each facility has about 1,000 people on staff … They’re ideal locations for solar installations, according to Paul Verke, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, or CDCR. “We have space in terms of land, and access to facilities and security,” said Verke. “The operation of a solar power plant works well with the layout.”

The full detailed story can be found at Investors.com.

jakking California, Environment and Energy