Johnson County staff recommend $3.07M increase to health center budget to add water reclamation and rooftop solar; geothermal not recommended

Johnson County facilities staff presented options on Jan. 30 to add sustainability features to the county's new Health Services Center and asked the Board of County Commissioners to authorize a $3,070,000 increase in the capital authorization, bringing the total project authorization to an amount not to exceed $116,524,000.

Why it matters: Facilities argued that two enhancements — enhanced rainwater reclamation and rooftop solar arrays — offer operating and climate benefits and are cost-effective over the building lifecycle. Staff provided lifecycle cost analysis, energy and greenhouse-gas estimates, and debt-service scenarios for board review.

What staff proposed: Tony Barron, director of Facilities Management, said staff recommended including enhanced water reclamation and rooftop solar in the project budget and provided details on performance and lifecycle. "We estimated that we approximately could reuse 2,000,000 gallons per year of water," Barron said about the proposed rainwater collection system; the design would use two 5,000-gallon tanks and on-site pumping to reuse water for toilets and landscape irrigation.

On solar, Barron said staff are proposing about 43,000 square feet of rooftop solar arrays. "The anticipated GHG emission reduction here is approximately 51 tons of carbon dioxide," he said. Staff provided a life-cycle cost analysis that included equipment lifespan, energy savings and debt-service assumptions; commissioners asked for extended projections (up to 40 years) and for additional sensitivity analysis incorporating possible incentives.

Geothermal review: Facilities briefly presented geothermal as an alternative and described its efficiency but recommended against it for this site because of geology and higher upfront cost. Barron said the geothermal option would require approximately 180 wells on-site and that site conditions — including limestone — increase costs and complexity. The facilities team and sustainability consultants did not recommend geothermal for the current project budget.

Budget numbers and next steps: The requested $3,070,000 increase was presented as a proposed amendment to the project's total authorization of $116,524,000; Robin Symes, budget and financial planning director, summarized capital and debt-service impacts. Commissioners discussed the non-monetary benefits, installation during new construction versus retrofits, and asked staff to return with extended cost projections and sensitivity scenarios for interest, replacement cycles and incentives.

Ending: The board did not adopt a final decision at the agenda review. Facilities will return with refined lifecycle and financing information for formal action on the project authorization at the upcoming meeting.