Andrew Wakefield is Lutron'sDirector of Building Solutions and Services.

Driven by energy-focused executive orders, a desire to improve sustainability, and the continuing mandate to reduce operating costs, federal agencies are looking for proactive ways to reduce energy use in government facilities without asking reluctant taxpayers to foot the bill. As such, the federal government is taking a leadership role in setting new standards for energy efficiency, establishing goals for net-zero installations, and improving operational energy security. Energy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPCs) are effective tools in this proactive approach to sustainability and energy savings without asking taxpayers to foot the bill.

An ESPC is a partnership between an organization and an Energy Service Company (ESCO). ESCOs help to audit, design and implement energy-efficient improvements with no upfront cost to the government. These projects are financed by energy savings achieved over the duration of the contract (typically 15 to 20 years) rather than by an initial capital investment. The U.S. Department of Energy outlines many additional benefits including reduced fossil-fuel dependence, enhanced energy security, and healthier, safer working environments.

Once the duration of the contract is realized the government end user benefits from any additional savings. As a result, performance contracts can help to achieve energy and sustainability goals and provide continuing energy benefits, while serving the best interests of the taxpayers and the employees who work in the facilities.

Increasingly, the federal government is turning to energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) and advanced lighting control systems to help make building lighting smarter and more efficient. Why the focus on lighting control? Lighting consumes nearly 38 percent of the electricity used in a commercial building. By layering integrated control strategies within the scope of an energy retrofit, lighting control can deliver energy savings of up to 60 percent, which is a total savings of over 20 percent. These strategies can include occupancy/vacancy sensing, automated daylight and dimming control, HVAC integration, and integration with energy or building management systems.

The benefits also extend well beyond efficiency, since lighting controls make the environment more responsive and more comfortable. Finally, intelligent controls are able to create usage and energy reports, interact with building management systems and tie into microgrids, all of which can positively impact mission effectiveness.

The long-term nature of ESPCs, combined with the rapid pace of change in lighting control technology, has led forward-thinking facilities to re-evaluate their lighting control strategies. In addition to traditional energy-saving measures like occupancy sensors that deliver immediate, short-term results, ESPCs may include advanced strategies, such as daylight harvesting, that maximize energy efficiency and controllability over time. Recently, the GSA reported that daylight harvesting, in combination with automatic dimming control, has the potential to contribute significant energy savings throughout its portfolio.

A short term approach does effectively deliver immediate results, but this approach can be less productive in the long run, even resulting in large areas of an installation getting locked into technologies that ultimately save less energy, and are unable to support progressive infrastructure initiatives.

In addition, federal agencies increasingly realize that if an ESPC does not provide for advanced lighting control strategies, a critical system in their facilities will not be able to connect with the smart grid or building management systems – initiatives that secure our country's energy future –for almost two decades. When energy managers adopt a long-term approach, they also ensure that buildings will be able to appropriately respond to emerging technologies and emergency scenarios, as well as compile and report energy usage data to enable evaluation and adjustments.

Efficient lighting and lighting control technology is constantly improving, as are payback times, and LED technology is leading the way. As evidenced by the trend toward advanced lighting control systems, government facility managers are consistently working to balance both the immediate and future need.

Currently, most fluorescent fixtures are not controllable beyond on and off, but almost all LED fixtures are. Even if the cost of LED fixtures removes them from immediate consideration, a digital system that can be installed to control fluorescent fixtures today can be repurposed in a few years, without rewiring, to control LED fixtures. Increasingly, forward-thinking ESPC s are including lighting control strategies that allow an installation to use fluorescent fixtures in the present, but ensure the capability to take advantage of energy-saving LED fixtures in the future.

While advanced building systems may not seem like a high priority, a typical ESPC is negotiated for 15 to 20 years. Because the ESCO guarantees the results, and is ultimately responsible for the promised energy performance, the contracts may be voided if a facility alters the performance aspects of the building or the installed materials. Contract duration is a benefit – it allows a facility to incorporate items that have a longer payback such as renewable energy sources or new chillers, but in this age of digital control and connectivity, federal facilities staff are working to make sure that lighting technologies are used that don't unnecessarily limit their ability to save energy and accomplish their mission over 15 or 20 years.

By more aggressively using ESPCs to install smart, efficient lighting, the federal government is reducing its energy usage, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and creating workplaces that are more comfortable, while enabling employees to be more productive. By combining its leadership, buying power and ability to accept a longer payback, the federal government is working to promote lighting control research, reduce costs, increase return-on-investment and improve energy security. As is often the case with new technologies, the federal government is taking a leadership position, and the private sector has started to follow suit, increasing its use of lighting control to advance energy saving initiatives. Ultimately, this will save taxpayer dollars and have a positive environmental impact on buildings and their occupants in both private and public facilities.

Is now the right time?

Here are some basic questions to should consider when determining whether to enter into an ESPC:

1. How big is the space? Smaller renovation may be best addressed internally.

2. What is the annual energy spend, and what are the potential savings?

3. Are there recurring maintenance problems due to aging buildings and equipment?

4. Are there productivity concerns, or frequent employee comfort concerns?

5. Is there appropriated money available?

6. Does the facilities staff have the on-side energy-management expertise, and what are the current demands placed on it?

7. How long ago were the last lighting controls or HVAC systems upgrades?

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