U.S. Postal Service Brings Energy Efficiency, Solar Power to Northern California Processing Facility

Abstract

As part of its ongoing drive to optimize efficiency and conserve
natural resources, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) completed major energy
efficiency upgrades and one of the largest federal solar power installations
in the nation, at the USPS’s West Sacramento Processing & Distribution
Center. The 573,000-square-foot mail facility is a major Postal Service hub
in Northern California, employing more than 1,200 people and processing
8 to 10 million pieces of mail daily, around the clock. Chevron Energy
Solutions developed, engineered and constructed the project, which
included a solar photovoltaic system mounted on a new parking structure;
energy efficient lighting systems; heating, cooling and ventilation systems;
air compressors; and energy management controls.
The improvements will reduce the facility’s annual electricity
purchases by more than $615,000 and its power consumption by more
than 33 percent, or about 5.5 million kilowatt-hours per year. The project
will also lower natural gas use by about 43,000 therms per year. Together,
these reductions translate to avoided local electric utility emissions of
about 3,900 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of planting
1,100 acres of trees.
The project’s completion was celebrated in October 2004 at an
event that was held in the shade of the solar-paneled parking canopy
and attended by USPS and other government officials. The 403-kilowatt
solar electric system, a product of PowerLight Corporation, is the larges