Agency Honor Roll

Turnpike Commission

The Turnpike Commission continues to support the development of the Pennsylvania Green Power Market by becoming a Partner in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership. The Commission continues to purchase almost 4.2 million kWh of wind-generated electricity annually. This is comparable to 10 percent of the total electric load and exceeds the annual output of one 1.5-megawatt wind turbine.

Rural Development Council

During the past year, the Council used electronic mail to distribute its newsletter, 'The Rural Focus' to more than 7,500 partners. In the past, partners received hard-copy announcements of Council activities and the 'Rural Focus' newsletters. By using electronic mail, the Council saved 75 reams of paper, more than 7,500 large envelopes and $3,500 in postage. The Council's website is the vehicle it uses to carry its message to its partners in a timely manner. On an average, the website receives approximately 3,000 inquiries a month.

State Employee's Retirement System

SERS knowledge management strategy will be enhanced with the implementation of an Electronic Content Management System. This management system electronically creates, modifies, archives and removes information resources from an organized repository. In the fall of 2006 the agency will implement the first phase of the electronic management system which includes scanning, importing, and indexing documents. The system will also have tools for publishing, format management, revision control, indexing and search and retrieval.

Labor and Industry

The Hiram G. Andrews Center continues to use the Guaranteed Energy Savings Program to expand the scope of their 2002 facilities upgrade. Currently, a number of energy issues are being addressed through energy savings contracting including:

• The single paned aluminum framed windows in the dormitories are being replaced with energy efficient windows with thermal broken frames, dual panes and low E glass. 
• The original air handler units with no controls are being replaced with efficient energy air handlers with direct digital controls.
• The light fixtures in the hallways were replaced with energy efficient units that provide increased lumens at a lower cost.

Transportation

The Department of Transportation has conducted several energy saving programs over the last year. A few of the noteworthy include:

• Requesting the Department of Labor and Industry to remove lighting in all snack bar vending machines.
• Specifying EnergyStar® equipment.
• Approving and funding many HVAC and lighting projects throughout the Commonwealth's District, County and stockpile sites.
• PennDOT Facility Management staff has attended many demonstrations and seminars showing controls that curtail energy use during both peak and off-peak times with the intention of implementing pilot projects to test their effectiveness.

Insurance

The Insurance Department has increased online applications for insurance producers which allow them the capability of printing their license locally rather than going through the agency. This initiative has saved the Commonwealth over $100,000 in postage, envelopes and printing on certificate grade paper. The agency also recycles ink cartridges, office paper and aluminum cans.

Military and Veterans Affairs

The agency is piloting a project to contract cardboard recycling state-wide for all of its readiness centers, armories and maintenance facilities. Working with the recycling section of the Department of Environmental Protection, the agency is developing specifications for cardboard dumpsters and is regionalizing the state in order to receive the most cost effective service. The contract is expected to be implemented in the summer of 2006.

Public Utility Commission

The Public Utility Commission continues to review possible resource conservation measures and the suggestions posed by the Commission's Bureaus for future implementation. New initiatives for this year include:

• Beginning to order its supplies online, eliminating paper requisitions;
• Ordering its first hybrid fuel-efficient vehicle;
• Eliminating the hard-copy requisition process for its internal high-speed copier service, moving to online ordering;
• Buying only refurbished copier and printer toner cartridges for the environmental and economic benefit, and moving to multi-functional machines that function as a copier, printer, fax machine and scanner.        

Pennsylvania State Police

The State Police are expecting returns on two major energy efficiency upgrades to their Central Headquarters:

• Replacing existing 28-year-old chillers with new higher efficiency chillers. Accounting for almost 50 percent of the facilities electric consumption, replacement of the chillers should equate to a 27 percent energy savings or about $42,304 per year, resulting in a payback period of about 7 years.
• Replacing of antiquated T-12 lights and magnetic ballasts with electronic ballasts and T-8 bulbs is expected to save approximately $36,158 annually, resulting in a payback period of only 4 years.

Fish and Boat Commission

The Commission is currently working on the installation of state-of-the-art- filter systems for capturing and removing waste particulates from fish hatcheries at Tylersville and Pleasant Gap. Construction of these facilities is expected to provide the facilities with a consistent, compliant, high quality effluent stream from the filtering system. The completion date for these projects is projected for the winter of 2007. It is anticipated that continued construction of these filter facilities will continuously improve hatchery discharge effluent to receiving streams at all Commission owned fish hatcheries within the next three years.

Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council

The Council's green management initiatives include:

• Offering online access to all its public reports and providing hospitals with their reports on compact disk, cutting paper and distribution costs as well as their environmental impacts.
• Recently instituting a process by which documents that have traditionally been stored in hard copy can now be scanned and maintained electronically.
• Recycling waste paper and aluminum cans at its Harrisburg headquarters, independent of the property manager, a staff member having taken on this responsibility voluntarily.

Independent Regulatory Review Council

Last year, IRRC used 48 reams of paper less than the previous year. This is due to the success of the following initiatives:

• Posting the annual report and the IRRC Process Booklet on its website, making them available to the public for downloading or electronic viewing;
• Scanning all regulation materials, thus limiting the use of paper copies.
• Replacing Workpaper paper files with electronic versions.
• Using the IRRC Database to compile important information instead of using paper files.
• Using electronic forms, documents and interoffice communications as well as the electronic calendar on our computers for scheduling meetings and noting staff leave.
• Redesigning its website to include electronic comments, saving paper internally as well as for the public, state agencies and legislative staff who would previously have submitted comments on paper. 

Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency

The agency has substantially reduced the number of forms mailed to its clients by providing downloading capabilities from the agency website. Last year the agency added more downloadable documents to its website and promoted the use of the web site for obtaining those documents. From July 1, 2005 through June 30, 2006, 504,862 files were downloaded. Savings were also realized when the Victim Compensation Assistance Program created a one-page claim form, which shortened the process of filing a claim by capturing basic information as the victim/claimant answers either "yes" or "no" to a series of questions. Submitting the new form will start the claim process just like submitting the standard multi-page form.