By Robert King--Daily Staff Writer

FRONT ROYAL — Warren County hopes to curb energy costs through more efficient heating and air conditioning in county buildings.

County staff aims to present a plan to the Board of Supervisors in October. County officials met Thursday to discuss possible ways to cut energy costs for heating and air conditioning.

The plan is part of an overall effort to lower ever-escalating energy costs.

"Its a new world," said Deputy County Administrator Richard J. Magnifico. "Five years ago you wouldn't have had this mindset."

For example, the electric bill for the county courthouse is $3,800 a month, while it used to be between $1,900 and $2,000, Magnifico said.

The goal of the plan is to control the amount of heating and air conditioning used in all county buildings "so that we will be able to say buildings will be heated to a certain temperature but no higher, buildings will be cooled to a certain temperature but no lower," Magnifico said.

The exact temperature hasn't been decided.

"The new industry standard for construction is every building must be heated to 70 degrees and cooled to 75 degrees," Magnifico said. "It doesn't mean it would be that temperature."

The county hopes to use programmable thermostats to regulate temperature. Many county employees cannot override the thermostats to alter the temperature, Magnifico said.

The only thing they would be able to do is hit the occupied/unoccupied switch, which extends the heating and cooling for a space, Magnifico said.

"A group coming in for evening can override the system for three hours," he said.

Another way to save energy is by using an economizer for an air conditioning unit, said Allen Affeldt, who works for Southern Air Inc., the county's heating and air conditioning provider.

The air conditioner's compressor increases energy costs, he said. The economizer bypasses the compressor for a period by collecting cool night air, Affeldt said.

"What the economizer does is bring the outdoor air in when it's 62 degrees, when its free virtually because its already cool," Affeldt said. "You are cooling the building with free air."

Affeldt and other employees of Southern Air urged county staff to work with them during the upcoming changes.

The county doesn't know the cost of the new energy-saving methods.

"We anticipate there will be an initial cost for thermostat controls, an installation cost for those controls, and then monitoring of the system probably can be done internally," Magnifico said.

After the heating and air conditioning systems will be looked at, county staff hopes to explore energy-saving methods for lights and hot water heaters. All new county building construction will also be done using "green" construction methods.

* Contact Robert King at rking@nvdaily.com