California Energy Commission OKs $1 Million Loan for Hospital Energy Upgrades

The California Energy Commission has approved a low-interest loan of $1.065 million for the Sonoma Valley Health Care District, to fund a portion of energy-efficient upgrades slated for the .

The energy upgrades will be part of a long-anticipated improvement and expansion plan that will bring the 83-bed rural facility up to state-mandated seismic standards by the summer of 2013. The new building house an emergency department on the ground floor and four new operating rooms on the second floor.

About $611,000 of the Energy Commission loan is earmarked for the Hospital's Central Utility Plant; it will provide the plant with with new boilers and chillers,  convert the hot and cold water systems to variable flow, seal leaky air distribution duct,  and fund more efficient sterilizers.

The remaining $454,000 in Energy Commission funding will be spent on energy efficiency projects, including new space heating and cooling and pumps, a new domestic hot water system and energy-efficient lighting.

When complete, the improvements supported by the loan will enable the district to save $97,000 annually in energy costs and reduce energy use by 286,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 49,700 therms of natural gas every year. In the process, the district will decrease its greenhouse gas emissions by 390 tons annually.

The health district predicts that these savings will enable a loan payback over 11-years.

The loan was made under the Energy Conservation Assistance Act.  To encourage energy efficiency, the act grants energy loans at a three percent interest rate for local governments, schools from K-12, special districts, public and private care facilities, community