The City and County of Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation has partnered with energy service company NORESCO to upgrade 49 park facilities island-wide, the department announced Wednesday.
The energy-savings performance contract aims to provide more than $97 million in energy savings over 20 years, including $3.4 million in savings the first year. It will also create 400 local jobs during construction, 80% of which will be for Hawaii residents, according to NORESCO Senior Account Executive Nicole Velasco.
“With this effort we selected the projects and energy conservation measures which will deliver the greatest benefit to park users and the environment,” DPR Director Laura H. Thielen said in a statement. “For instance, the 14 pool pump upgrades will cut down on maintenance while making the pools safer for the public, staff, and environment through the use of less chlorine. This will make the pools more available for public use with pumps that work better, and make them more energy and water efficient, at a time when [we] are aiming to cut down water usage by more than 10%. It’s a win-win-win situation.”
Among the 49 parks, all are switching to interior and exterior LED lights, 24 parks are retrofitting or replacing plumbing fixtures, 16 parks are receiving weather-based irrigation controls, 14 pools are installing new pumps and on-site chlorine generation systems, 10 parks are improving their electrical transformers, nine parks are upgrading to LED field lighting, and two beach parks are eliminating major water leaks through extensive piping replacement, according to the Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation.
Parks include Waianae Regional District Park, Kapolei Regional Park, Central Oahu Regional Park, Pearl City District Park, Neal S. Blaisdell Park, Salt Lake District Park, Kalakaua District Park, Foster Botanical Garden, Kapiolani Regional Park, Sandy Beach Park, and more, according to NORESCO's website.
The improvements are scheduled to be installed in phases, and all energy upgrades are expected to be operational by summer 2024, according to the Department of Parks and Recreation.
For a full list of the parks and their energy conservation measures, visit the DPR Energy Savings Project website.
