From WinonaDailyNews.com, story by Dustin Kass
Energy efficiency improvements helped reduce the city of Winona’s energy costs by more than $120,000 in 2009, while similar upgrades saved Winona County more than $27,000 last year.
The savings came from small changes such as retrofitting city traffic signals with LED lighting and changing light fixtures in county buildings to use lower-wattage bulbs, according to data presented this month by the city and county. But the small changes were part of a big investment, as the city and county spent more than $2 million to implement the upgrades as part of contracts with McKinstry, a company that helps businesses improve energy efficiency.
The improvements helped more than just the municipalities’ bottom lines—carbon dioxide emission at county buildings were reduced by more than 250 metric tons, while the Winona Public Library, city’s central garage and city stoplights produced 200,000 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide last year than in 2007, the statistics show.
