Counted in the more than $459,715 in savings for the first 10 years of operations at the Fairview Office Park in Baxter are recycling, heating and cooling and stormwater management. Janelle Riley, Syvantis Technologies president, said the savings took into account any upfront costs that went into the buildings.
The 10-year savings includes $27,700 in savings from reuse of materials, such as cabinets, front desk and doors, from Syvantis' previous office space. A house on the office park site was moved and reused by a family and a garage was donated and moved to a church in Pequot Lakes.
The office buildings have small residential-size garbage cans instead of large Dumpsters because recycling is mandatory. The 10-year savings is estimated to be $38,050.
Other savings were estimated with $148,164 for optimal heating and cooling through insulation, use of heat pumps and smaller air conditioning units that cycle on and off instead of running constantly. The heat pumps provide heating and cooling. They work by pulling heat out of the air, especially useful in the fall and spring. The heat pumps pull heat from the outside air and bring it into the building. In the summer, it works in reverse by directing heat out of the building. It still works on many winter days, but to a less degree as the temperature drops. Riley said the payback on the heat pump units comes in less than five years.
Riley said savings of $90 per year per computer are found just by turning computers off when not in use at night. Overall computer equipment management has an estimated 10-year savings of $28,000. Syvantis calculated $26,864 in savings in lighting, $175,937 in saving from stormwater management and $15,000 from reduced impervious surface during the first 10 years of operations.
RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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