Building Buy-In for American Embassies: U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua

In 2014, Lockheed Martin completed an ESPC at the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua, achieving a 54 percent energy reduction across nine buildings. The project integrated a 956 kW solar PV system—the State Department's largest overseas—which is projected to offset 37% of the site's energy consumption. Key measures included LED replacements, chiller-plant optimization, and HVAC upgrades. To overcome challenges such as a lack of local utility incentives and frequent staff turnover, the project utilized third-party expertise from LBNL and the DOE, and implemented a memorandum of agreement (MOA) to ensure continuity of project knowledge.

• The 2014 energy savings performance contract (ESPC) at the U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua achieved a 54 percent energy reduction across nine buildings, despite the buildings having an average age of only seven years.
• The project installed a 956 kW solar PV system, which is the largest overseas system for the State Department and is expected to offset 37% of the retrofitted site's energy use.
• Implementation of solar PV was hindered by a lack of local utility net-metering programs or financial incentives in Nicaragua, as well as staff concerns regarding the aesthetics of ground-mounted installations. These were addressed by using carport canopies and financial modeling provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL).
• To manage the challenge of embassy management rotating every two years, the OBO project manager created a memorandum of agreement (MOA) that served as required reading for incoming staff to maintain project continuity.
• Significant energy savings were realized through a comprehensive LED-lighting retrofit and HVAC replacements, which saved over 460 MWh and 390 MWh per year, respectively.

APA

RMI (2015). Building Buy-In for American Embassies: U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua. https://rmi.org/resources/blog_2015_09_15_building_buy_in_for_american_embassies_nicaragua/

Chicago

RMI. Building Buy-In for American Embassies: U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua. 2015. https://rmi.org/resources/blog_2015_09_15_building_buy_in_for_american_embassies_nicaragua/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Building Buy-In for American Embassies: U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua |date=15 September 2015 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/blog_2015_09_15_building_buy_in_for_american_embassies_nicaragua/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2015building, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Building Buy-In for American Embassies: U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2015}, month = sep, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/blog_2015_09_15_building_buy_in_for_american_embassies_nicaragua/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }