# Installing Advanced Meters with ESPC: Ft. 

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# Bragg NC as a Case Study

*An ESPC contract with Honeywell -- utilizing the Army Corps of
Engineers* *Huntsville contract vehicle \--* *is now* *saving Fort Bragg
\$8.5 million a year.* *Essential* *to* *achieving these savings has
been the installation of advanced metering* *of exactly the type
mandated* *by the provisions* *in* *pending federal* *energy*
*legislation* *-- that feeds interval level data into an energy
information system (EIS)* *which is used to optimize the savings* *from
several other* *improvements* *in* *capital* *equipment and operating
procedures.* *The Fort* *Bragg* *ESPC* *is one of the best possible
illustrations of the basic truth about metering \-- the meters
themselves don\'t matter, it\'s what* *is* *done* *with the information
that matters.* *This case study has been adapted from a Honeywell
publication, with very slight editing to emphasize the advanced metering
application.*

Fort Bragg, an 84-year-old U.S. Army post in Fayetteville, N.C., has
plenty to brag about. It's one of the largest Army installations in the
world and has been designated as an Army Community of Excellence. It's
also home to the 18^th^ Airborne Corps, the 82^nd^ Airborne Division,
Special Forces Command, and numerous other commands, as well as 44,000
soldiers and their families.

Now, Fort Bragg can also take pride in its energy savings. The post is
committed to the U.S. Army's mandate of reducing energy use 30 percent
by 2005, and 35% by 2010. To accomplish this, Fort Bragg and the Army
Corps of Engineers have authorized Honeywell to invest \$62 million
worth of capital improvements to facilities and infrastructure through
an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC). Under this contract, the
cost of these improvements will be paid for with the energy savings that
result.

Fort Bragg and Honeywell have developed a key partnership over the last
four years that has resulted in energy savings and quality of life
improvements to the installation. As a result of this partnership, Fort
Bragg saves more than \$8.5 million a year on energy and has cut total
energy costs by more than 25 percent. To date, the ESPC program has
netted more than \$20 million in energy costs savings for Fort Bragg. No
small feat for an Army post with almost 30 million square feet of
facilities.

A Partnership That Pays

Honeywell's relationship with Fort Bragg began in 1997 through an Energy
Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) program with the U.S. Army
Engineering and Support Center in Huntsville, Ala. This contracting
vehicle allows federal facilities, such as Fort Bragg, to use money
saved on energy and operating costs to pay for capital improvements.

Since the partnership began, Honeywell has undertaken more than 25
projects to reduce energy consumption and costs at Fort Bragg. These
include:

-   Expanding the post's limited underground natural gas distribution
    system with a new system that provides extended natural gas use at
    the post.

-   Installing new, high-efficiency, natural gas-fired steam and
    hot-water boilers to replace one of the post's outdated central
    steam plants.

-   Converting warehouses, vehicle maintenance facilities and hangers
    from forced induction heating to radiant heating, which has improved
    working conditions.

-   Upgrading the central plants with new chillers, cooling towers,
    variable frequency drive motors and new controls, and providing
    full-service maintenance.

-   Extending existing post-wide HVAC automation to DDC controls to
    provide 24-hour control and monitoring of mechanical systems.

-   Replacing aging and oversized centrifugal chillers with ones that
    use a third of the energy.

-   Installing high-efficiency lighting, including lamps and ballasts,
    throughout the post.

The ESPC team also tackled costs on the energy supply side. Honeywell
assisted Fort Bragg in obtaining new rate structures with local gas and
electric utilities, earning substantial savings for the post. In 2002,
for example, Fort Bragg was able to claim more than \$5.4 million in
savings through supply-side management.

Capturing Supply-Side Savings

Capturing supply-side savings is a crucial part of the ESPC equation.
Without doing so, Fort Bragg wouldn't be able to fund other necessary
capital improvements. That's where T.E.A.M.^^ (*T*otal *E*nergy
*A*ccount *M*anagement) Services, a concept Honeywell developed in
partnership with Fort Bragg and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, comes
in.

How has the post used the savings captured through T.E.A.M to produce
still more savings? The most unique project to date is the installation
of an Energy Information System (EIS). EIS is Fort Bragg's energy
control "cockpit," which in turn supports the T.E.A.M.^^ concept. The
EIS is a centralized computer terminal center that monitors utility
consumption at Fort Bragg from more than 256 meters, remotely controls
central plant and facilities equipment, automatically operates peak
shaving generators, and provides reporting and data collection for
billing of Fort Bragg's reimbursable customers.

In addition to capturing supply- and demand-side savings, T.E.A.M.^^
reduces costs and helps manage risk in purchasing energy. It also
maximizes delivery efficiency, selects energy sources and switches fuels
in real time to reduce costs and minimize emissions. Simply put,
T.E.A.M.^^ Services is an integrated, centrally controlled approach to
energy management.

An integral and essential element for implementing T.E.A.M. **^^**
Services and achieving the tens of millions of dollars in savings that
the Army has obtained at Ft Bragg has been the installation of meters
that feed interval level data into the EIS \-- just the type of advanced
metering that is called for in pending federal energy legislation. Like
all meters, they do not achieve savings by themselves, and therefore are
not separated out as an ECM, nor is there a savings guarantee associated
with the meters per se. They do, however, provide the essential
information for (1) identifying facilities with high conservation
potential, (2) analyzing the load profiles so that purchases of power
can be optimized, (3) identifying locations and opportunities for
cogeneration applications, (4) together with real-time pricing data from
suppliers, optimizing the balance between purchasing power and using the
on-base generation and (5) generating positive cash flow through
accurate billing for reimbursements from tenants on the base. They are
critical, therefore, for achieving the savings that many of the capital
investments and operating procedure improvements in the ECM package are
designed to yield.

Making a Team Effort

Integrated teams have been an important factor in the successes at Fort
Bragg. A leadership team -- known as the Integrated Strategic Team (IST)
-- manages and directs the ESPC Program. The team, which is led by the
Fort Bragg PWBC directorate, includes key personnel from Fort Bragg,
Honeywell, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The IST sets up tactical teams for each task order and includes
representatives from the post areas included in the upgrade. As Fort
Bragg's energy advocate and partner, Honeywell also reviews new
construction projects to ensure the equipment used will be energy
efficient and can be integrated into the EIS.

Honeywell posts personnel onsite to manage the day-to-day pieces of the
projects. Currently the on-site staff comprises 30 service personnel,
including a full-time technical resource manager and a measurement and
verification specialist, who is responsible for T.E.A.M.^^ Services.

Working Together Through 2022

Fort Bragg has contracted Honeywell to provide service support to the
post through 2022. The most recent contract calls for Honeywell to
install more than \$11.2 million in energy efficient equipment and
operational improvements at the central plants. Fort Bragg anticipates
these improvements will save the post an extra \$1.8 million per year.
As part of this new contract, Honeywell service staff will run and
maintain the central plants, which provide Fort Bragg with heating, air
conditioning and hot water.

In addition to earning bragging rights as a leader in the Army's fight
to cut energy use, Fort Bragg also has earned more formal recognition
for its energy efficiency. The Federal Energy Management Program
recently designated Fort Bragg's key recreational facility -- the
Cleland Multipurpose Sports Complex -- as a Federal Energy Saver
Showcase project.