Washington, DC Projects Office

Energy Efficiency in Federal Facilities

Staff in the DC Office work as part of the Applications Team (A-Team) to provide technical assistance to federal agencies in conducting "energy savings performance contracts" (ESPCs), which are funded with private sector financing. "Super ESPCs," designed by DOE-FEMP, are created to streamline ESPCs for federal agencies.

We oversee the development of the contracts, assuring that sufficient measurement and verification of savings is included, that financing costs to the government are being minimized, and that the contracts accurately parse risks and responsibilities between the federal agency and the energy service companies (ESCOs) installing them.

We also assist agencies in identifying state- and utility-provided incentive funds to help implement their conservation projects (both financed ones, like ESPCs, but also in-house projects funded from government appropriations). A related effort seeks to help federal facilities select among their utility supply options, and to optimize their operations given the utility rate structures they face. The DC Office focuses this support on agencies in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

LBNL-DC staff also assist FEMP in various quality assurance tasks associated with the Super ESPC program. One current effort aims to explain differences between ESCO-guaranteed savings in ESPCs and the actual utility bills paid by the facilities in the years of the contracts. In some instances, variables such as unit energy price changes and "load creep"—the tendency for buildings to add plug load and drift from their commissioned operation—can mask the savings performance of an ESPC.

Following a directive from the Energy Policy Act of 2005, LBNL-DC is assisting FEMP in the development of cost-effective efficiency standards for new federal buildings that are 30% more efficient than current codes (based on ASHRAE 90.1/2004 and IECC 2004).