The
Horizon House retirement community takes conservation seriously. Many of the
595 residents grew up in the depression era and know a thing or two about
making every penny count. That ethic helped guide the community to become the
greenest retirement home in the state. Working together, residents, building
managers, energy efficiency experts and Seattle City Light have instituted
energy, water and waste conservation actions at the one million square foot
complex that are saving tens of thousands of dollars on energy bills each year
and avoiding tons of waste that could have ended up in landfills.
Horizon House is a
vibrant continuing care retirement community located in the heart of downtown
Seattle. The beautiful campus is home for seniors of every age and stage1.Established
in 1961, Horizon House encourage creativity and individuality. This dynamic,
urban retirement village is home to more than 550 older adults who have come
together to share their interesting lives. Horizon House first benchmarked the
energy performance of their campus in April 2011 to comply with a new City of
Seattle ordinance.
Horizon House had
its work cut out for them when they first set out to benchmark the retirement
community as required by the City’s energy benchmarking and reporting ordinance.
The complex was constructed in four phases over more than 50 years, and has more
than 160 individual energy and water meters3.
Building
managers used a Resource Conservation Manager who worked closely with Seattle
City Light to make benchmarking work for their unique community. The community
was benchmarked successfully in April 2011, a full year ahead of the city’s
first deadline.Building managers say
benchmarking helped them take a more comprehensive look at how resources were
being used and opened up a wealth of new savings opportunities, critical for a
complex that typically expends $1 million each year on energy, water and waste
combined.
The energy saving
measures at Horizon House include heating and cooling (HVAC) upgrades in common
areas, a major upgrade of more than 300 lighting fixtures and installation of
occupancy sensors in stairwells, parking garages, offices and community spaces.
These improvements are now saving more than 220,000 kilowatt-hours per year, enough
electricity to power 22 homes for a year3.
During 2013, Horizon
House continued to identify immediate opportunities to reduce resource
consumption and looked for every opportunity to engage both residents and staff
in the process. The result was savings in excess of $100,000 compared to a 2010
baseline year. Conservation improvements were accounted for when budgeting for
the year, but improvements exceeded expectations, resulting in nearly $31,000
in additional savings. Much of these savings can be attributed to the
commitment residents have made to reduce their resource consumption versus the
installation of more efficient Infrastructure2.
References
- http://www.horizonhouse.org/
- http://www.horizonhouse.org/energy-rebate/
- http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/OSE/EBR-horizon-house
