Greater New Haven Chamber Achieves Energy Savings through the Energize Connecticut Initiative
New Haven, CT – Taking care of business is their motto. The Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce (GNHCC) is leading their community of entrepreneurs by example, participating in energy-efficiency programs to help ensure their facilities are running at peak performance.
“This program is so easy and efficient, it is unbelievable. We wish we participated sooner. Utility bills, like health insurance costs, are necessities that we have to pay for, but if we can reduce them somehow, that money can be used in so many ways to help businesses in the region,” said GNHCC president Anthony Rescigno.
The mission of the GNHCC is to provide partner services, like advocacy, networking, economic development, and leadership events, to help promote regional growth. Educating and providing cost-saving ideas for the businesses they advise makes GNHCC a vital asset to the communities they serve: Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Milford, New Haven, East Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Orange, Wallingford, West Haven, and Woodbridge.
United Illuminating (UI), a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc., helped in determining the Small Business Energy Advantage program would be the best fit for their facility to maximize cost savings. GNHCC was able to reduce energy costs and improve lighting for their entire office. Roughly 256 LED fixtures were installed during this project, including linear, recessed, and exit sign lights. The GNHCC is projected to save an estimated $5,169 annually through the lighting upgrades. According to Rescigno, the energy savings realized will also benefit employees and lower maintenance costs.
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“We are all much more aware of the importance of energy conservation and remind our staff to turn off lights when not in use,” Rescigno said. “We are offsetting our operational costs and are sharing best practices with our partners so that they can also take advantage of this energy program, with little effort on their part.”
Rescigno said that they are already experiencing the savings, which has helped “greatly reduce” their energy bills. The energy program initiative chosen has a short payback of 2.5 years, after which upgrades will continue to save the GNHCC money. While they have no plans to perform any other energy upgrades immediately, Rescigno said that the Chamber would like to consider more energy efficiency opportunities to save in operating costs.
“The Greater New Haven Chamber benefits so many communities, industries and local businesses, which makes their operational cost savings that much more important said Dennis O’Connor, Small Business Energy Advantage Program Administrator at UI. “Helping a service organization with many local partners to identify energy incentives and save money can exponentially create positive impact for an entire region of the state.”
