Wise energy-efficiency upgrade

Charleston's architectural heritage is a local treasure that transcends financial measure. Making city-owned historic buildings energy efficient, however, is an expensive endeavor. Still, the price paid for such improvements can be a prudent use of public money.

As Tuesday's Post and Courier reported, Charleston City Council has given preliminary approval to adding $3.2 million to a contract with a company that's already upgrading city facilities on the energy-efficiency front. The extra cost is needed to renovate 116 Meeting Street, a building that was a fire station long ago and is now the site of the city's Department of Budget, Finance and Revenue Collections.

If City Council grants final approval for that contract addition next month for the replacement of all heating, air conditioning and electrical systems, and other improvements at 116 Meeting Street, it would boost the city's total tab for renovation contracts with that company, Johnson Controls, to more than $17 million over the past seven years.

That's a serious sum. Yet a failure to modernize old city buildings with new energy-saving technology would impose an even heavier long-term financial burden on taxpayers.

As Steve Bedard, the city's financial officer, told our reporter: "The 116 Meeting Street renovation does not pay for itself, but the three (contract) phases together will come close."

The first two contracts with the company, which include guarantees of significant energy savings, project a reduction in the city's energy use at the affected facilities by 16 percent. Those improvements included the replacement of air handlers at Gaillard Auditorium, and the installation of an irrigation-management system, water heating at city pools and high-efficiency LED light fixtures in parking garages.

Mr. Bedard estimates savings of at least $17 million "over the life of the projects," aptly adding: "Stuff like lighting has a pretty quick payback."

In a city where simply tearing down old buildings and replacing them with new ones is not an option, energy-efficient renovations of public buildings are a wise long-term investment.