The U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville’s Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) team – long recognized as the technical center of expertise and leader in Army ESPC – is sharing expertise with the U.S. Air Force.
Contracts recently awarded for ESPC projects at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California, and Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, are the team’s first Air Force projects. The team primarily supports Army, but can support all federal agencies.
“We established a memorandum of agreement with the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC) that allowed us to work together to expeditiously award these first two projects,” said Lisa Maddox, Huntsville Center’s ESPC project manager. “Normally it would take between 15 and 18 months to award a similar contract. Because of our great relationships with AFCEC and our energy service companies, we were able to award these contracts within 13 months using an existing multiple award task order contract.”
Honeywell, of Golden Valley, Minnesota, received the contract for Los Angeles Air Force Base, valued at nearly $11 million. The ESPC includes several energy conservation measures (ECMs) including installing rooftop solar photovoltaic panels on four buildings to total about 1.2 megawatts. Additional ECMs include upgrading lighting to light-emitting diode bulbs, replacing existing rooftop air conditioning units, building envelope modifications and irrigation controls. The Air Force base will experience a guaranteed energy savings of nearly 19 million British thermal units annually.
Construction started in November and is expected to take approximately 15 months to complete. Once completed, the energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades will be paid for with the energy savings they create over the 24-year contract lifespan.
NORESCO, of Westborough, Massachusetts, received the contract for Hanscom Air Force Base, valued at nearly $40 million. The 24-year project includes a 4.6-MW combined heat and power plant and running natural gas lines to eight facilities. Additional ECMs include replacing boilers with natural gas models and upgrading about 1.5 million square feet of lighting to LED bulbs. The energy savings from this ESPC are estimated to be more than 145,000 MMBtu each year.
Construction is expected to begin in December and is expected to take approximately 28 months to complete. The contract period is for 24 years
“These projects will greatly enhance energy security and resiliency at the two installations, as well as reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” Maddox said. “These projects demonstrate Huntsville Center’s ability to rise to the challenge incumbent with a new line of work and make the awards efficient and effective while utilizing our streamlined approach. Huntsville Center is working with the Air Force on several additional projects that are in various stages of development.”
Under an ESPC, energy service providers compete to finance, design, construct and manage energy projects and maintain the systems long-term. ESPCs range from 10 years to a maximum of 25 years, with the ESCO being paid back over the term of the contract from cost savings garnered by the energy efficiency improvements they make.
(Editor’s note: Jess Dupree, AFCEC Public Affairs, contributed to this article.)