Located in Portland’s inner eastside, Matt Dishman Community Center serves everyone from infants to seniors who use the center’s gymnasium, game room, fitness center, multipurpose classroom, neighborhood preschool and pool.

With energy costs at the 1950s-era building rising, Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) made energy-efficiency improvements, recently installing two natural gas-fired condensing boilers that heat the buildings and pool and upgrading to computerized controls.

Energy Trust provided a cash incentive of $91,990 to help pay for the project, which trimmed energy costs by an estimated $27,000 annually. “We’re likely saving an equal amount on reduced maintenance costs because we’re not spending so much time repairing old boilers,” said Brian Ulrich, utility analyst, PP&R. “The cumulative savings help stretch our overall budget, allowing us to deliver more services to the community.”

“Energy Trust provided PP&R with $267,000 in rebates in 2017 for energy efficiency. The bureau will use the funds to embark on yet more energy-and water-saving projects,” said City of Portland Commissioner Amanda Fritz, who oversees PP&R. “We are reinvesting these funds through an Energy Savings Performance Contract Pilot Project at 48 sites. The pilot project goals are to reduce energy and water consumption by 20 percent or more at these sites, reduce the maintenance gap, identify a feasible path toward the city’s net-zero goal, and demonstrate the scalability of this project delivery model so we can eventually apply it to all PP&R sites.”