Cowlitz County approves $350,000 Hall of Justice energy audit; staff say grant covers cost

Cowlitz County commissioners approved an amendment to a facilities contract that brings the Hall of Justice energy audit cost to $350,000, county officials said.

The audit addition — $252,250 under an agreement with the Washington State Association of Counties (WASAC) — increases the total reimbursement so the county is no longer expected to cover most of the audit out of local funds. "As part of energy efficiency laws, all public buildings over certain sizes have to have these energy audits done," said Susan Eugenus, county engineer. She said the audit informed recent HVAC and lighting upgrades at the Hall of Justice and was required to qualify the county for reimbursement.

A commissioner questioned the price, saying, "That's awfully expensive" for what reads as an audit. Eugenus replied the work went beyond a simple walkthrough: the pre-audit led to HVAC upgrades and LED lighting projects and the contractor also committed to projected annual energy savings. "We will have scheduled monitoring dates to assess whether or not we are saving what we were told we were going to save," Eugenus said.

County staff said the additional WASAC funds raised the county's reimbursement from roughly $70,000 toward covering the full audit cost. The board approved the consent agenda, which included the audit amendment, by voice vote.

Next steps: staff will use scheduled post-project monitoring to track actual energy savings and report results to the board as the audit reimbursement and guarantees are realized.