The City of Edmonds released data Tuesday demonstrating the joint efforts between the city and Snohomish County Fire District 1 to save energy at the Public Safety Campus at 250 5th Ave. N. — essentially the public safety building housing the Edmonds Police Department plus Fire Station No. 17.  In a nutshell, the cooperative effort between these two entities resulted in electricity cost savings of $11,400 and natural gas savings of $2,500 in 2011.

“Staff in the Public Safety Building has been an important part of our energy conservation efforts, helping to identify times of the day and zones of the building not in constant use — where we can forgo heat or cooling during certain times,” said Edmonds Police Chief Al Compaan. “This remains a bit of a challenge since we are a 24/7 operation.  However, we’re pleased to see the initiative has provided savings to the City while still providing a comfortable working environment for our staff.”

The graph below illustrates the reduced electricity use in these two buildings from 2007 to 2011.

The following graph depicts reductions in natural gas, a utility that the city says is “very closely tied” to outdoor temperature. It shows the consumption of natural gas, in therms, as it correlates with temperature values (which measures the need to heat buildings) for each building on the Public Safety Campus for the same five-year period.

The city notes that the utility savings depicted in these two graphs was a joint effort between the City of Edmonds and Fire District 1, because the district has operated Fire Station 17 since the start of 2010.

“Snohomish County Fire District 1 crews are honored to share in the energy savings realized at all three fire stations serving the City of Edmonds,” added Assistant Fire Chief Tom Tomberg.

Tomberg noted that it was firefighter crews who intially proposed energy savings initiatives as a way to be good stewards of the environment and save money in the process. Firefighters worked with Edmonds Facilities Manager Jim Stevens and his employees to evaluate fire stations “of very different vintage and construction type, and were able to create a comfortable 24/7 living and working environment that illustrates how well different groups can come together in accomplishment of a shared cause.”

Edmonds Mayor Dave Earling offered his congratulations to the City’s facilities staff “for their success in reducing energy use throughout Edmonds. Our City Hall is another superb example of this effort, as it is now in the process of receiving the ENERGY STAR label for its second consecutive year. We have also gained greatly from the leadership of our Council President, Strom Peterson, in all issues related to energy conservation and environmental stewardship.

“These savings at the Public Safety Campus clearly demonstrate the value of a concerted team effort between separate agencies in pursuit of a common goal, the benefit of the public they both serve,” Earling said.