Veterans Affairs Selects Eaton for $10m, 200-Building Efficiency Contract

Eaton Corporation has received three contracts totaling $10 million, aimed at enhancing the energy efficiency of 200 buildings owned by the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

The contracts will include the retro-commissioning of 15 medical campuses with nearly 15.4 million square feet of space in the VA’s Integrated Service Network in New England, New York, New Jersey and the upper Midwest.

Eaton will collaborate with SCS Engineers, an environmental engineering and construction firm, to evaluate the medical centers’ building systems. Together they will recommend improvements aimed at enhancing energy efficiency, indoor air quality, comfort and performance optimization.

Eaton and SCS Engineers will then make on-site corrective actions designed to generate immediate and long-term energy savings. Eaton’s Energy Solutions retro-commissioning projects have historically reduced energy costs up to 20 percent and have shown a return on investment in as soon as six months, the company say.

The project will consist of development planning and investigation of the building power systems, heating ventilation and air conditioning, lighting controls, lighting, electrical, hot water, security, fire, life support and safety systems. The team will then seek to identify the most economical facility improvement measures including operational and maintenance improvements that can enhance energy efficiency, improve building performance and help avoid or postpone the need for major equipment replacement, Eaton says.

The team-up with the VA echoes a contract Eaton won with the US Postal Service in 2010. At that time, the USPS’ Eastern Facilities Service Office contracted Eaton to work on energy efficiency projects at postal facilities in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio and South Carolina. Eaton said that the Indefinite Job Order Contract would consist of energy engineering, management and audits as well as improvements in lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. Financial details were not released.

The VA recently auctioned off 24 MW of demand response through the US General Services Administration’s first demand response auction.

The 24MW, auctioned in March, will be separated as 8MW annually over three years. It covers GSA facilities in the Commonwealth Edison service territory of PJM, and a VA facility in the Consolidated Edison service territory in New York State.

The auction was carried out with support from energy management firm World Energy Solutions Inc. and technology company Science Applications International Corporation.