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Sarasota Looks Skyward To Slash Energy Use

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By ZAC ANDERSON

Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Published: December 22, 2008

Maybe the solar-powered golf carts and tennis court groomers will catch on at local country clubs. Or business owners will think about seeding their roofs with plants that trap cool air.
Green roofs and solar devices are two aspects of Sarasota County's new comprehensive energy management plan county leaders hope will spur community action.

The Sarasota County Commission pledged last week to reduce energy consumption by 10 percent next year and another 10 percent by 2011 in the name of helping the environment and reducing an $11 million annual energy tab.

In the process, the county also is hoping to be in the vanguard of a national clean energy movement that many think will accelerate with the election of Barack Obama.

A strong energy policy could improve Sarasota County's chances of tapping into the president-elect's proposed billion-dollar alternative energy program and infrastructure investment program. Sarasota has fast-tracked some energy-related projects, including a plan to swap out streetlights that use $1.4 million in electricity with more efficient models.

There is no overall dollar figure for Sarasota's new energy program. Funding for projects will be considered on an individual basis.

"We may have to start incrementally and relatively small in the scheme of things," commission Chairwoman Shannon Staub said. "It will be a process, not a big hit at one time."
Sarasota County is trying to take a more systematic approach to energy usage.

That includes everything from a "green driving" class that teaches employees how to save gasoline, to hooking all 3,000 meters that monitor electricity usage at government facilities into a computer system that can track big spikes and predict trends.

Some of these programs have already led to changes. At one building, county officials removed 1,000 lamps and replaced 1,080 others with more energy-efficient versions, decreasing energy costs by $24,000 annually, or 17 percent.

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