He also said the city will move to narrow Washington and Jefferson boulevards downtown.WASHINGTON – Fort Wayne will receive nearly $2.5 million to make city-owned buildings more energy efficient with better insulation, programmable thermostats and tighter windows.
The money is part of $42.4 million that Hoosier cities, towns and state government will receive for energy efficiency projects, the White House announced Thursday.
Fort Wayne’s grants will allow the city to pay for some of the deficiencies pointed out in an ongoing assessment of how energy efficient city-owned buildings are.
In December, the city hired Ameresco, an Indianapolis consulting firm, to conduct energy audits on city buildings. Deputy Mayor Greg Purcell said Ameresco has reviewed more than 120 buildings – 40 at the zoo alone – and those audits will help direct the city on how to spend the federal money. The audit is expected to be completed in April.
Allen County, which will receive $404,500, has not conducted an energy audit of county-owned buildings. Commissioners spokesman Mike Green said an energy audit could be one way to spend the money.
“Local leaders will have the flexibility in how they put these resources to work,” Vice President Biden said, “but we will hold them accountable for making the investments quickly and wisely to spur the local economy and cut energy use.”
The Energy Department will administer the grants and will require cities and counties to report on the number of jobs created or retained, the amount of energy saved, the renewable-energy capacity installed and how much greenhouse gas emissions were reduce.
Benjamin Lanka and Amanda Iacone of The Journal Gazette contributed to this story.
