Golden Living, AOG partner on energy efficiency program

Golden Living has received a $17,300 incentive check from Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp. as part of a program that encourages businesses to invest in energy efficient systems.

The program, AOG’s Commercial & Industrial Solutions Program, helped Golden Living repair water leaks in their hot water heating circulation piping system, and to completely shut off their two comfort heating hot water boilers during the summer months.

Golden Living is a healthcare company that provides services and business services in more than 300 facilities in 21 states. The facility in Fort Smith serves as the company’s administrative office. In 2013, representatives from AOG’s Commercial and Industrial Solutions program investigated the cause of the leaks in the hot water system and ultimately helped them identify the source of the problem – missing expansion loops, faulty expansion fittings/couplings and incorrect gasket material.

In late summer of 2014, Golden Living began replacing the faulty fittings/couplings and gasket materials. They estimate that about 80 percent of the total coupling/fitting locations in the facility were repaired or replaced over the past year. Because of these repairs, the facility ran the entire summer in 2015 with the boilers shut off – for the first time in years – with no hot water leaks.

“We realized the Golden Living facility in Fort Smith was wasting heat energy by leaving our boilers on year round,” Golden Living Director of Facilities Management Beth Peerson said in a statement. “Once the energy assessment helped identify the probable cause of the hot water leaks, the AOG team recommended a strategy for us to begin repairs that ultimately led to full boiler shut off this past summer. We appreciate AOG working with us by not only providing financial incentives, but also providing an avenue for us to save energy and money for years to come. That is an invaluable asset to our company.”

In addition to the incentive check received from AOG, the facility’s annual energy savings will be more than $11,000 a year. The payback period of the company’s initial investment will be about two years. The boiler shut off will result in 21,625 CCF of natural gas savings per year, which is the equivalent of preventing the annual carbon dioxide emissions from more than 12,600 gallons of gasoline, according to Environmental Protection Agency calculations.

“Arkansas Oklahoma Gas is committed to saving our customers both energy and money,” said John Ware, director of Energy Efficiency Programs for AOG. “We appreciate the opportunity to work with Golden Living to identify and implement opportunities for them to improve their facility in Fort Smith, and we were pleased to present them with the incentive money to assist in upgrading that facility.”

Link here for more info on the AOG Commercial & Industrial Solutions Program.

AOG is a natural gas company with about 60,000 customers in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. AOG provides natural gas service to residential, commercial and industrial customers and also transports natural gas produced from local wells to the interstate pipeline system.