City goes green, saves taxpayer money

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The Bear Canyon Senior Center is a bustling place to be on a Tuesday afternoon.

The city, however, said there is too much waste going there every year.

“This is a typical storage room where the lights are left on all day long,” city energy specialist Tony Gurule described as he showed a storage room to News 13.

The senior center is just one of 400 buildings around Albuquerque set to be modified to save energy and save taxpayers money.

After all the changes are made, the city said taxpayers will save about $200,000 a year.

With $3 million of taxpayer approved money, city officials are combing through senior and community centers right now to find ways to cut energy costs.

First, they’re adding power strips to each room to shut off office appliances that aren’t in use.

They’re also adding motion sensors that shut the lights off when no one is in the room, and turn on when someone is.

The sensors also take into account how much natural light is coming into a room.

“These are common sense approaches to saving energy and making our operation more efficient,” Michael Riordan, with the city’s municipal development department said.

In the fall of 2011, voters will decide where the money saves over the next year and a half will go.

After the community centers are updated, crews will start putting green appliances into police and fire stations, libraries and other city buildings.