By Jean Thilmany, Associate Editor

During the next 10 years, most federal agencies will be closely examining energy use at their facilities. The agencies have to find new ways to save, because the 1992 Energy Policy Act mandates that by 2010 all federal facilities reduce energy consumption 35 percent below 1985 usage levels.

A Louisiana utility provider joined forces with Energy Masters, a contracting company, to deliver energy services to the Barksdale Air Force Base.

"So now everyone's trying to be more efficient, and that's where we come in," said Ken Ormsbee, director of the federal business unit at Energy Masters in St. Paul, a general contracting company that helps federal businesses find ways to conserve energy, natural gas, and water. The company carries out a contracting method—called energy savings performance contracting—which allows federally owned installations to undergo energy conservation projects without having to pay capital expenditure monies.

Under this contracting method, federal agencies contract with an energy service company, such as Energy Masters, that pays all up-front project-related costs, which include installing, operating, and maintaining energy-efficient equipment and systems. The agency pays back the company over a period of time, usually 10 to 15 years. The immediate cost savings with the lower energy expenses usually cover payback costs, including interest.

For instance, Energy Masters is currently working with the U.S. Coast Guard Support Center in Elizabeth City, N.C., to reduce energy costs among the center's 100 buildings. Energy savings there are expected to amount to $272,000 each year over 15 years, according to Lt. Ben Davis, assistant facility engineer at the Coast Guard Support Center. The support center refurbishes and repairs damaged and worn Coast Guard helicopters.

Davis said his center is bringing itself into compliance with an update to the 1992 law, which directed the U.S. Coast Guard to reduce energy costs by 20 percent, based on 1995 usage patterns, by 2005. "The project will cut the facility's energy costs by 30 percent by making improvements in only about 50 percent of the site's square footage," Davis said.

Energy Masters was able to save money by shifting the Coast Guard center from paying the full utility rate during peak hours to a less-expensive, peak-shaving rate. This was accomplished by installing an electric generator at the center so that at peak times in the summer the base has the capability to generate a portion of its own power. In return, the local utility gives the base a year-round discount.

The local utility offers such a program because it doesn't have enough generating capability to meet peak demand by use of its own system, Ormsbee said. The local utility must buy peak power from other providers, often at high cost, in order to meet local needs. According to Ormsbee, the Coast Guard base saves the utility money by cutting the amount of peak power it needs to buy from other utilities.

The most common way to slash costs is to move from a decentralized heating plant to a natural gas distribution system. Many of these facilities, such as the Coast Guard base, have a central boiler under one building, with pipes underground that transport steam to various buildings.

"That's essentially how they heat the buildings," Ormsbee said. "We have bases with more than 50 miles of steam pipes, both above and below the ground, and some of them date back as much as 40 years so that they have leaks galore. And if you think about it from a military perspective, what with the size of the mili-tary 25 years ago compared to what it is today, a lot of these things were built for something that doesn't exist anymore in terms of demand.

"You may be sending steam over these lines and 30 percent of the buildings aren't even occupied anymore, but the steam still goes to them," Ormsbee said.

In such cases, Ormsbee's company installs natural gas distribution systems. This involves installing small, low-pressure steam boilers or hot water boilers, which Ormsbee compared to the hot water heaters that heat a commercial building.

This sort of installation saves labor dollars as well, he added. That's because the small boilers in each building are regulated by automatic controls that are linked to a central energy management control system that tracks each boiler to ensure its proper operation. However, by law a high-pressure steam plant must be manned all day every day.

"And there are very large labor costs that go along with that," Ormsbee said.

A second common installation done by an energy contracting company is an upgrade to the ventilation system. Many buildings on U.S. Army and other military bases use single-zoned ventilation systems. That means the system runs at a constant volume, often 24 hours a day.

"It's just on or off," Ormsbee said.

"A typical project is converting these systems to multiple-zoned systems and having those areas controlled by carbon dioxide detectors that monitor occupancy," he added. "So if there are more people in one area, then the ventilation system runs a higher percentage of the time and exchanges all the air, but if no one is in the area, the ventilation system for that zone will run less because there's less requirement for air from an indoor air quality standpoint."

But the main upgrade, the procedure that saves so much money Ormsbee has termed it the cash cow of energy savings, is an upgrade to a facility's lighting system. Nearly every facility—whether military base or business office—can benefit from these upgrades, he added.

Outmoded lighting wastes a lot of money and upgrades are less costly than replacing heating systems. As a result, lighting projects have a quick payback, much faster than paying back the cost of a new boiler or heating system.

Energy Masters uses lighting upgrades to reduce the length of payback time for high-cost items. For instance, it may take 22 years to pay back to Energy Masters the cost of a new boiler—with payments made from the money saved by reduced energy use—but only one and a half years for a client to pay back the cost of lighting upgrades. Together, a boiler and lighting upgrade may equal a 10-year payback, which is a common amount of time for bases to make payments to Energy Masters.

Lighting system improvements at the U.S. Coast Guard Center in Elizabeth City, N.C., got under way in January and should be completed by July, according to Davis. When all the energy upgrades at the center being done by Energy Masters are completed, the company will test usage patterns to make sure they meet expectations, he added.

"Energy Masters will conduct measurement and verification at various times during the life of the pro- ject to ensure that the expected savings are generated," Davis said.

Energy Masters has also carried out a number of other energy savings programs at military bases across the country. For instance, the company is partnering with a local utility provider in Louisiana to deliver energy services to the Barksdale Air Force Base.

That energy project, now under construction, will upgrade interior lighting systems in 12 buildings on the base, improve airfield apron lighting controls, and increase security through perimeter lighting improvements.

The company also hopes to improve working conditions at the base's corrosion control plant after it installs skylights, a diffused lighting system, and infrared heating. But Energy Masters doesn't work only on military installations, although they make up a significant portion of its business.

For instance, Governors State University of University Park, Ill., near Chicago, is faced with a quickly growing student population. The growth, coupled with aging equipment, made for escalating energy requirements. The university was built in 1972 and required modernization. Facul-ty and students even complained of poor acoustics, according to Lisa Dinzeo, an Energy Masters spokesperson.

But the university had no capital improvement funds to bring its more than 550,000 square feet of facilities up-to-date. The university contracted with Energy Masters and was able to pay back the company for improvements with money it was able to save as a result of reduced energy costs. In the case of Governors State University, the company carried out many of the same improvements, such as retrofitting lighting and installing a variable air control system, which it is doing for its military clients.

The new lighting should save the school about $130,000 annually, while the new air control system is expected to save the school approximately $56,000 each year, according to Dinzeo.

The company also recently performed energy efficiency upgrades to the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority's high-rise apartment complexes, which account for 4,200 apartments in 402 buildings throughout the city.

As with most federally funded public agencies, public housing authorities are continually called on to man-age their dollars in more creative ways, and they find they must adhere to a strict and shrinking bottom line, Dinzeo said.

Energy Masters led the housing authority through several stages in reducing energy costs. They included installing high-efficiency refrigerators and installing energy-efficient lighting fixtures in the hallways, stairwells, and common areas.

In addition, all 40 high-rises now can be monitored for energy use from one location, rather than separately at each apartment. This centralized monitoring system saved the housing authority about $167,000 per apartment. The remote monitoring controls—which replaced outdated pneumatic temperature controls and time clocks at each building—trigger the heat to turn on when the seasons change and gathers energy consumption data, all from one central location.

"Nowadays, everyone is trying to be more energy efficient," Ormsbee observed. "And it's fairly easy to do."


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