FRAMINGHAM, Mass., and COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Ameresco Inc. joined officials at the National Archives and Records Administration II (NARA) in College Park, Maryland, to commemorate an award-winning multi-phase energy conservation project which began in 2005. Ameresco has completed construction of the most recent phase of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) which provided for $7.3 million of new improvements, including rooftop solar and high-efficiency HVAC and lighting systems in NARA’s record storage areas.
“Ameresco is proud to support the National Archives in achieving excellence in sustainability,” said Nicole Bulgarino, senior vice president, Federal Solutions, Ameresco. “Through this recent phase, the Archives II facility exemplifies outstanding stewardship in energy conservation and demonstrates how its significant records-keeping mission can operate in a highly energy-efficient manner.”
During the past decade, Ameresco has used a combination of federal contract vehicles to assist NARA in achieving its energy and sustainability goals, including the U.S. Department of Energy ESPC IDIQ and GSA Schedules. Energy conservation measures installed include a broad spectrum of high-efficiency and sustainable upgrades, including upgrades to the energy management system — a mission-critical system that maintains archival-quality storage of national historic records and artifacts.
Combined, approximately $23 million in improvements have been installed by Ameresco at Archives I in Washington, District of Columbia, and Archives II in Maryland. Measures include cool roofs, vegetative green roofs, high-efficiency HVAC, cogeneration, building controls optimization, LED lighting, water conservation, rainwater harvesting, mechanical upgrades, solar, and composting. The compost system at Archives II is producing approximately 1,000 pounds of compost daily which is used on site, thus reducing the need for purchasing mulch and hauling the waste.
Under the most recent phase of the ESPC at Archives II, NARA’s largest and most energy-intensive facility, Ameresco installed 430 kilowatts of rooftop solar, bringing the total installed solar to 585 kilowatts. Ameresco was also able to secure lucrative utility rebates for lighting and HVAC improvements. Other measures installed include a new high-efficiency chiller/heater; a new open-protocol control system to automate, integrate, and optimize the facility’s HVAC system; an upgrade to the water irrigation system to supplement the rainwater harvesting system; complete facility lighting upgrades; and high-efficiency motors and sensors to the air handling units in the records storage areas.
The HVAC systems controlling these records storage areas comply with the most stringent federal requirements for national recordkeeping, preserving microfilm, cartographic and architectural items, electronic records, motion picture films/video recordings, and the photographic and graphical works related to many national treasures.
“NARA prides itself on being a leader in operational efficiency and energy conservation at all its facilities,” said Mark Sprouse, director of the National Archives Facilities and the agency chief sustainability officer. “The initiatives we’ve launched in collaboration with Ameresco have established us as a leader among all federal agencies on energy conservation. In addition to saving taxpayers money, we have become a resource for our peers. Now, other organizations are looking to NARA for ideas and innovations.”
NARA has been nationally-recognized for its leadership and energy initiatives undertaken with Ameresco. In 2008, NARA received a Presidential Award for Leadership in Energy Management and received the 2010 GreenGov Presidential Award for “Lean, Clean and Green.” In 2013, NARA received the Energy Star Award in Combined Heat and Power category from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Combined Heat and Power Partnership.
Most recently, NARA received three 2015 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards, and was specifically recognized for its use of ESPCs to reduce NARA’s energy consumption by 30.2 percent in fiscal year 2014 as compared to fiscal year 2003.
For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.
Publication date: 12/7/2015
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