DEEP ENERGY RETROFITS USING ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS: SUCCESS STORIES

This report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) details eight case studies of deep energy retrofits implemented via Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) in federal and municipal settings. It identifies six best practices for achieving significant energy reductions—averaging 58% across the highlighted projects—without upfront capital costs or Congressional appropriations.

• The report identifies six best practices for deep energy retrofits: setting aggressive long-term goals, engaging diverse stakeholders, establishing a support system, adopting a 'clean sheet' design mindset, using an iterative holistic design process, and incorporating ongoing feedback and involvement.
• The Almeric L. Christian Federal Building is noted as the first known federal ESPC to achieve net-zero energy use, resulting in annual savings exceeding $500,000 through a $6.4 million project.
• At Naval Air Station Oceana, a four-phase project starting in 2002 is projected to reduce energy use by over 40% across more than 100 buildings, saving over $6 million in annual energy costs. A key innovation included a ground-source heat pump system using graywater effluent from the Hampton Roads Sanitation District for heat rejection.
• The U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua achieved a 54% energy reduction across nine buildings. Despite a lack of local utility incentives for renewables, the project installed a 956 kW solar PV system, the State Department's largest overseas system, which is projected to offset 37% of the site's energy consumption.
• The City of Boulder achieved 25% energy savings across 66 buildings. The project utilized a behavior-change program called PowerED to generate an additional 10% energy savings and insure against savings degradation.
• Fort Buchanan achieved 53% energy savings and 70% water savings. As a net-zero-water pilot site under the Army Net-Zero Initiative, it implemented innovative measures such as rainwater harvesting and weather-integrated irrigation.
• The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) achieved 27% energy savings across a portfolio of 12 presidential libraries, with some sites like the Gerald Ford Museum exceeding 40% savings, while adhering to strict thermal and lighting requirements for document preservation.
• The New Carrollton Federal Building project resulted in a projected 60% energy reduction and 56% water reduction, largely due to a 40% downsizing of the chiller system enabled by an integrative design that included an LED lighting retrofit.

APA

RMI (2015). DEEP ENERGY RETROFITS USING ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS: SUCCESS STORIES. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Deep_Energy_Retrofits_Using_ESPC.pdf

Chicago

RMI. DEEP ENERGY RETROFITS USING ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS: SUCCESS STORIES. 2015. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Deep_Energy_Retrofits_Using_ESPC.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=DEEP ENERGY RETROFITS USING ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS: SUCCESS STORIES |date=August 2015 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Deep_Energy_Retrofits_Using_ESPC.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2015deep, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{DEEP ENERGY RETROFITS USING ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS: SUCCESS STORIES}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/03/Deep_Energy_Retrofits_Using_ESPC.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }