City delivers thermostats for mercury retrieval

The City of Madison delivered the aged thermostats removed from its facilities to have the mercury retrieval processed by Covanta.

This will prevent the thermostats from entering the landfill and the mercury can be retrieved and processed appropriately.

This is the completion of the thermostat portion of the Energy grant projects the City is implementing. The aged thermostats were replaced with programmable thermostats, which are more energy efficient and accurate.

Other projects the City has implemented with Energy grant funds are:

LED lighting projects in the 5th Seasons neighborhood, City Hall parking lot, Wall Triana/Madison Blvd intersection

Replacing light switches with motion sensor switches in all City facilities. The removed light switches will be donated to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore to be reused in other buildings.

Current projects taking place are:

LED lighting projects at 3 more City intersections, Public Works parking lot

Magnesium lighting at Madison Public Library parking lot

All exterior lighting removed will be either reused in other City locations or taken for metal recycling at the end of the project.

Funds came from a grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

“The City is striving to be diligent in “completing the circle” in our processes as well as projects. We researched and carefully planned out our projects, came in under budget on each one, and found a way to recycle or reuse the items removed from our facilities. The benefit of these projects was shared with our citizenry as well as many of our commercial establishments.”  Kristen Kulavich

For more information, please contact Kristen Kulavich, Sustainability Liaison, 256-682-5117 or krisdkul@hotmail.com.

BY KRISTIN KULAVICH / SPECIAL TO THE RECORD