Though the old New Hampshire Hospital building in Concord has sat largely empty for decades, much of the building - 215,000 square feet - is heated through the winter. Only about 20 percent of that space is used for state offices. The heating system in the 1842 building operates with an all-or-nothing approach.

Until this week, the state hasn't had the money to fix the problem, but state officials have now formally accepted $10.7 million in stimulus money to improve energy efficiency at state buildings. Adding heating zones to the old hospital building, at a cost of about $900,000, is among the top-ticket items on a preliminary list of changes to be made at 75 state buildings.

The money is part of the federal Department of Energy's State Energy Program from which New Hampshire will receive $25.8 million. The money will be mostly aimed at making existing buildings more efficient.

The state Office of Energy and Planning has divvied the money up into 16 categories. The community college and university systems will each receive $1.3 million to improve their buildings. Other money will be available to municipalities, homeowners and businesses.

Amy Ignatius, who served her last day as director of the Office of Energy and Planning yesterday, said so much of the money went to state buildings because there are other pots of stimulus money for which municipalities, homeowners and businesses are eligible but the state is not.

Her office, which will now be headed by Joanne Morin, a former Environmental Services administrator, will be the conduit for a total of $58.6 million in stimulus for efficiency programs.

Working with Administrative Services, the office developed a list of 75 buildings that could use the money. The Bureau of Public Works is now going through the list to see which projects are most feasible and carry the biggest bang for the buck. The money must be spent by June 2012.

Proposed projects range from installing a timer on a hot water tank at a Hooksett transportation shed for $300 to installing a wood chip boiler at the Glencliff home in Benton, a home for adults with mental illness and other disabilities, for $1.5 million. Glencliff, which operates off the electrical grid, now heats with a No. 6 fuel oil boiler.

Other high-cost proposals include replacing a natural gas heating system at the modern New Hampshire Hospital with a wood pellet boiler and installing storm windows at the State House.

Many of the oldest state buildings are highly inefficient. State Energy Manager Karen Rantamaki said the state is working with engineers to look at which buildings could most benefit from more insulation.

"They're going to just start with the ones that have none and work their way down," she said.

Rantamaki said many of the projects involve small changes, such as changing light fixtures to support more efficient bulbs.

"It adds up to quite a bit," she said.

The state spends about $23 million each year on heat and electricity for the buildings it owns, said Mary Downes, energy efficiency specialist in the Office of Energy and Planning.

In 2005, Gov. John Lynch issued an executive order urging state agencies to reduce their energy use, including transportation, by 10 percent. That has proven to be a big order with little money to carry it out.

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