Municipal Building Project

Staff had an energy audit of the Lake Mills Municipal Building that was completed on 2/23/2009. Since construction, the building appeared to experienced above average utility bills, although there was no local comparison option. This winter, the sprinkler systems had numerous problems, and further maintenance exploration revealed large portions of non-conditioned air present in areas of sprinkler routing. The energy audit was requested to identify not only opportunities to reduce energy cost, but to reduce costly maintenance on building systems failures.
Built in 1999, the Municipal Building is a 30,000 sq. ft. brick and concrete masonry construction. The building houses municipal employees, the police department, a community center, and a council chamber. Because of the variety of departments, the operating hours vary throughout the building. The Police Department is utilized 24 hours a day. The municipal employees are generally present from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The community center and council chamber events are commonly in use during days, weekends and general off hours.
The Lake Mills Municipal Building has experienced high natural gas usage levels that appear to be related to the building envelope. Complaints about high gas bills and the questionable performance of the building envelope were illustrated in the bursting of fire sprinkler supply piping from freezing temperatures in early February. Repairs have been made to the sprinkler system but tiles in the suspended ceiling have been removed in many parts of the building to allow heat up into the areas where the sprinkler supply pipes are run to prevent another freezing.
Inspection of the attic, outside walls and areas above the suspended ceiling has revealed several areas that are open to outside non-conditioned air. The insulation levels and ventilation techniques do not appear to be completed as designed in the building plans. These areas of concern warrant closer investigation by a qualified independent contractor.
City staff is meeting next week with engineers and a contractor to develop solutions for the wall and insulation issues of the building. Hopefully, we will be able to develop specifications for correcting the problem. The City will take advantage of WPPI’s Member Loan program to finance this project, which offers up to a $500,000 zero interest 10 year loan for the completion of municipally owned energy efficiency projects.