Cutting Energy Use in Fire Stations

Fire stations are voracious users of energy. At Firehouse.com, Bob Mitchell, the principal of Mitchell Associates Architects, offered a framework for reducing energy use in these structures.

The most important step, he writes, is to have the proper level of insulation. The next step is to incorporate energy efficient equipment into the station. Mitchell focuses on lighting and contrasts incandescent, compact fluorescent, metal halide and LED approaches. The third  use of smart control systems such as occupancy sensors and carbon dioxide monitoring and the final suggestion if to incorporate alternative energy sources.

Mitchell closes with the suggestion that getting decision makers on board – by extolling the savings that are possible – is vital to transforming a plan to a reality.

Ecotope, a company in Washington State, led a redesign to a fire station in Issaquah WA that cut energy use by almost 80 percent. Fire Station 72 Eastside Fire and Rescue cut its energy use from 100 kBtu per square foot to 22 kBtu per square foot.