City of DuQuoin
DuQuoin, Illinois
Jeremiah Dunmyer
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
The City of DuQuoin, Illinois is a small town with a population of approximately
6600 and is located approximately 25 miles north of Carbondale, Illinois.
DuQuoin resides in Perry County and is the largest municipality within
the county. Recent changes have enhanced the city to become more environmentally
aware such as applying for and succeeding to be the first Green Community
in Illinois, installing a recycling collection center by way of a grant,
adding more trees to the landscape through grants and acquire a pollution
prevention intern.
The main goal of this internship was to perform an energy audit for the
city and create a future scope that was environmentally friendly while
economical. The audit included determining the electricity usage from
various types of lights within city owned buildings, determining HVAC
efficiencies, researching alternate fuel vehicles, and performing a pollution
prevention audit on local businesses.
Result:
- Lighting. The intern researched and determined that lights could
be retrofitted at the municipal building, police station, and fire station
with tubular and compact fluorescents for a combined annual savings
of $2,980. Additional savings may be possible by replacing the 9-watt
compact fluorescent exit signs with long-lasting LED signs.
- HVAC. At the suggestion of the intern, a professional who concurred
with the assessment that the cooling system was overloaded analyzed
the HVAC system. A detailed assessment of the cooling needs show that
a new 15 SEER system that was properly sized would comfortably cool
the police station and save $200 annually.
- Alternative Fuels. The intern evaluated utilizing various alternative
fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. Availability and storage concerns
for biodiesel and E-85 was raised by the city during the investigation.
Alternatively, the city is interested in obtaining Hybrid Electric Vehicle.
The advantage of the Hybrid is the regenerative breaking as well as
stopping the engine when it is not needed leading to a fuel and maintenance
savings of $10,000 over 5 years.
- Local Business Audit. During the internship at the City of DuQuoin,
three local facilities were provided pollution prevention suggestions
concerning energy efficiency, solid waste reduction, and water conservation.
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