The Western Maryland Railway Station in Cumberland, Md., was built in 1913 and operated as a passenger station by the Western Maryland Railway until 1959. The building went through various transformations, housing offices until 1988 when the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad began service.
Today, the station continues to operate as a heritage railroad, a railway operated as living history to recreate or preserve scenes from the past, while serving as the headquarters of the Canal Place Preservation and Development Authority (CPPDA).
The 24,730-square-foot brick building houses offices, a museum and two small retail shops. The facility also features a C&O Canal National Historic Park exhibit and associated visitor’s center. The CPPDA is an independent agency of the state of Maryland.
Energy-efficient Upgrades
The state of Maryland renovated the facility primarily to address occupant comfort issues. For example, building occupants used space heaters in their offices and workstations to address drafts and uncomfortable temperatures in the building.
Although the historic facility presented unique challenges for improvements, a comprehensive building upgrade resulted in 21 percent annual energy savings and an annual cost savings of $12,100 (compared to a 2016 baseline).
CPPDA worked in collaboration with the Maryland Energy Administration and Department of General Services to conduct an energy audit of the facility with support from the U.S. Department of Energy. The audit identified several cost-effective energy-conservation measures, including replacement of the building’s 20-plus-year-old HVAC system; updates to the lighting system, including replacing more than 500 light fixtures with LEDs and installing occupancy sensors; and improvements to the building envelope, involving air sealing and insulation.
The table (above) lists the facility upgrades implemented at the Western Maryland Railway Station with associated costs. These measures were essential to improving occupant comfort while reducing the historic building’s energy consumption and costs.
In addition, CPPDA realized significant cost savings from reduced maintenance and repair of the HVAC and lighting systems. The facility was budgeting more than $5,000 annually to maintain and repair the HVAC system, which had to be regularly recharged with coolant because of leaky refrigerant lines. The lighting upgrade provided maintenance savings of $3,600 annually. Combined, the renovations have cut station maintenance costs by more than 70 percent annually.
Better Buildings
In December 2021, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized the state of Maryland for energy-efficiency advances made through DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. As a partner in the program, Maryland reduced its energy intensity by 20 percent across a buildings portfolio of 9 million square feet. The state now has committed to another goal of 15 percent energy reduction across a broader portfolio of more than 90 million square feet.
DOE partners with public and private-sector organizations to make commercial, public, industrial and residential buildings more efficient, thereby saving energy and money while creating thousands of jobs. To date, more than 950 Better Buildings Partners have shared their innovative approaches and strategies for adopting energy-efficient technologies. Discover more than 2,500 of these solutions in the Better Buildings Solution Center.
Materials
DX AIR CONDITIONING WITH HYDRONIC COILS: YORK
LIGHTING: Altech Electronics, AM Conservation, ARK Lighting, ATG Electronics Inc., Energetic Lighting, HYLITE LED Lighting and James Industry Group Co. Ltd.