DOE Boosts Energy, Water Efficiency Performance Contracts Projects

The U.S. Department of Energy announced more than $5 million in funding for federal agency projects aimed at catalyzing adoption of energy and water efficiency and renewable energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced more than $5 million in funding for 11 federal agency projects aimed at catalyzing adoption of energy and water efficiency and renewable energy technologies at facilities across the federal government — the nation’s largest single user of energy. To increase the impact of the projects, federal agencies will leverage alternative financing mechanisms such as energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) to install traditional and innovative energy conservation measures (ECMs) with no added cost to the taxpayer. These projects advance DOE’s priorities of improving energy affordability, integration, and storage capabilities at all federal facilities, while supporting federal goals to improve and streamline the award of energy efficiency projects coupled with innovative financing contracts. performance contracting

The Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) Federal Agency Call helps DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) bring these energy and water efficiency projects to federal facilities. With the funding that’s been announced, selected agencies will promote the use of external, leveraged funds to advance energy affordability, integrate technologies that increase the resilience of a site, and support the deployment of integrated energy systems that save energy and promote the safety, health, and operations of federal facilities. When combined with cost-share from industry, the total investment in energy and water efficiency could reach more than $140 million.

The following projects have been funded under the 2019 AFFECT Federal Agency Call:

Fort Bragg, U.S. Army: Validate a new, energy efficient heating ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) technology that builds upon an earlier Environmental Security Technology Certification Program pilot to promote energy affordability and integrated energy systems.

Fort Bliss, U.S. Army: Take a holistic and integrated approach to enhance the resilience posture of Fort Bliss, coupling energy and water conservation measures to augment the effectiveness of a black start microgrid and battery storage technologies.

Fort Campbell, U.S. Army: Achieve greater than 50% energy reduction by replacing an inefficient HVAC system that is causing mold growth and corrosion with a new, energy efficient, high efficiency dehumidification system (HEDS) HVAC technology.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, St. Thomas: Combine solar photovoltaics (PV) and resilience technologies including battery storage, backup generators, and fuel storage tanks to create an islandable microgrid that will mitigate reliance on expensive, unreliable electricity and guard against severe weather and natural disasters.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, St. Croix: Build upon the recent success of an islanded microgrid system at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) communications site on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, utilizing FEMP’s ESPC ENABLE contract to strengthen resilience capabilities at ICE’s St. Croix site by deploying PV, battery storage, backup generators, and fuel storage tanks.

Fort Campbell, U.S. Army: Demonstrate the potential wide applicability of a new, energy efficient HEDS HVAC technology, with significant energy savings estimates and improved indoor air and quality of life for the soldiers at Fort Campbell, to other Department of Defense and civilian federal agencies.

Fort Carson, U.S. Army: Diversify energy generation sources to augment resilience via a novel, gas-fired HVAC technology that combines three separate needs (heating, cooling, and hot water) and utilizes up to 50% less energy than traditional solutions, drastically reducing energy losses and shifting peak-load electricity demand away from electric to natural gas to generate substantial energy and cost savings for the base.

Drug Enforcement Administration: Implement PV integrated with unique water and other ECMs via an ESPC ENABLE contract to reduce annual energy use and costs, and focus on increasing energy efficiency and management of jet fuel and aviation gas resources.

U.S. Air Force: Integrate the Department of Defense’s Energy Resilience Analysis Tool and the ESPC ENABLE contract to develop a more effective and efficient way to identify and implement resilience technologies across the Air Force, significantly enhancing its resilience posture and increasing energy efficiency and energy savings simultaneously.

Fort Bliss, U.S. Army: Develop a geothermal resource by collecting geothermal site data and leveraging an earlier collaboration with DOE’s Geothermal Technologies Office that would implement a renewable, geothermal district heating system, increasing the resilience posture of the base and reducing reliance on exterior energy sources. (To read about recycling efforts at Fort Bliss, see this past story from Facility Executive.)

Department of Veterans Affairs: Demonstrate an innovative, strategic approach to overcome the high capital cost associated with upgrading existing building automation system protocols, promoting superior energy management and energy savings and directly improving space conditioning, temperature, and humidity control in a critical patient care environment.