Federal Facilities Get $104 Million for Energy Efficiency
Projects help facilities pursue 65 percent reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 and a net-zero building portfolio by 2045 January 26, 2024
By Dan Hounsell, Senior Editor
As the impact of climate change continues to play out in the form of more and more destructive natural disasters and rising global temperatures, the focus on the role of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in climate change is coming under ever greater scrutiny. To help the nation’s facilities minimize their impact on climate change, the federal government is stepping up.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $104 million for energy-conservation and clean-energy projects at 31 federal facilities. The funding from DOE’s Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies program represents the first of three disbursements from the $250 million in funding for the program in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
The projects announced for funding align with a December 2021 Executive Order that calls for a 65 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions from federal operations by 2030, 100 percent zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035, and a net-zero building portfolio by 2045.
Selected projects include:
- Installation of rooftop solar panels, a heat-recovery heat pump system and solar thermal panels to reduce reliance on natural gas and fuel oil combustion systems at U.S. Department of Defense’s Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia
- Installation of LED lights and occupancy sensors in low-occupancy areas and application of photovoltaic (PV) film on south-facing windows to conserve and generate energy at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) headquarters
- Replacement of evaporator diesel-powered boilers with electric boilers, with the potential to save $16 million in fuel costs per year, in the waste treatment and immobilization plant at DOE’s Hanford Site in Richland, Washington
- Replacement of a 35-year-old HVAC system with high-efficiency equipment, making enhancements to the building envelope including window replacements, and installation of a new 75-kilowatt solar PV system and an advanced metering system, and implementation of water-conservation measures at the DOT Maui Air Traffic Control Tower in Kahului, Hawaii.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
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