County of Suffolk, Department of Public Works

Suffolk County occupies two-thirds of the land on Long Island, covering roughly 1,000 square miles of territory.  Suffolk County was the first municipality on Long Island, NY to adopt a Clean Energy Action Plan which lays out a clear set of goals identifying specific measures that the County can implement in order to reduce its energy consumption.

The County’s Department of Public Works (DPW) constructs, maintains and operates county properties, and designs, constructs and maintains county roads, sewerage systems, buildings and other facilities, such as waterways, bridges, docks and marinas.  The DPW is also responsible for identifying ways in which Suffolk County can reduce its energy usage by incorporating energy efficient technologies into new and existing facilities as well as its vehicle fleet.  In 2009 the County undertook a number of projects aimed at decreasing its energy usage as well as the costs associated with that energy usage; to that end, the DPW worked with National Grid to identify and leverage incentive programs which helped offset some of the costs associated with the upgrades.  Several buildings including the Bergen Point Wastewater Treatment Plant, the County’s Trade Shop and the H. Lee Dennison County Executive Building underwent major energy efficiency modifications which focused primarily on the buildings’ heating and hot water systems.  In each building the DPW installed high efficiency condensing boiler technology while also ensuring that all of the hot water and chiller piping was well insulated.  Additionally, the Aerco Boiler Management System II was employed to assist in a load sharing strategy to maximize energy efficiency; the software allows several boilers to operate at ‘part load’ instead of any of the boilers to operate at ‘full load’.  In some buildings, including the Cohalan Court Complex, the DPW is installing Aerco SmartPlate single wall water-to-water domestic hot water heaters which can maintain constant load conditions to approximately 4º Fahrenheit under normal load changes.  A feasibility study is underway to evaluate the construction of a base-loaded cogeneration plant at the Bergen Point Wastewater Facility; wastewater plants are among the most energy intensive industrial facilities and cogeneration would significantly reduce the plant’s energy usage. 

Since adopting its Clean Energy Action Plan Suffolk County has invested over $23 million in energy efficiency retrofits and alternative energy technologies.  Going forward the DPW will continue to look for ways to reduce the County’s energy consumption as well as lowering its operating costs.