FRAMINGHAM, Mass., and WASHINGTON — Ameresco Inc. announced that the Army National Guard has awarded it an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) task order to improve the energy efficiency of the Army National Guard headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, District of Columbia. The project utilizes Ameresco’s master ESPC with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and is expected to reduce the headquarters’ energy consumption by over 20 percent through upgrades to the headquarters’ cooling and lighting systems and IT system efficiencies.
“Ameresco is proud to support the Army National Guard as they enhance their energy efficiency and continue to lead by example at their national headquarters,” said Nicole Bulgarino, vice president, federal solutions, Ameresco.
The U.S. Army National Guard Readiness Center is the national headquarters for the central command and coordination of all state-wide Army National Guard units throughout the country. The 17-acre complex includes two major buildings known as Arlington Hall Station 1, built in 1992, and Arlington Hall Station 2, built in 2011.
As part of the ESPC, Ameresco will implement five major energy conservation measures (ECMs) across 500,000 square feet of office space to reduce total site energy consumption by 21 percent. The ESPC is expected to yield energy and operations and maintenance (O&M) savings of more than $738,000 annually.
The ESPC will improve the buildings’ central cooling system by replacing the existing chiller and restoring the functionality of the existing ice storage tanks, which have been inoperable. These ice storage tanks, which are underground, will cool water for the HVAC system during off-peak hours to reduce daytime peak demand, which saves on electricity costs.
Upgrades to the headquarters’ lighting systems include the installation of over 7,600 high-efficiency lighting fixtures. Another primary measure to reduce electrical demand addresses the IT system by virtualizing over 3,000 PC desktop workstations and streamlining print management. This IT improvement will save electricity by using low-power terminals versus personal computers.
In addition, interior water conservation measures and irrigation system improvements are expected to reduce water consumption by 17 percent annually, saving more than 1.7 million gallons of water per year.
“The benefit to using the energy savings performance contract is that it will allow us to complete energy-saving upgrades to Arlington Hall without upfront capital costs or use of appropriated funds,” said Major Sergio Molina, contracting officer for the Army National Guard. “ESPCs may be used for any federally owned facility. The contractor incurs the cost of implementing energy conservation measures and is paid from the energy, water, and operations savings resulting from these ECMs.”
This ESPC project supports the Army National Guard’s commitment towards the president’s Better Building Challenge, which since 2011 has directed federal agencies to leverage $4 billion worth of performance contracts for energy savings at no upfront cost to taxpayers.
Ameresco said the buildings will continue to be fully-operational and occupied during the construction period.
For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.
Publication date: 6/23/2014
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