Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City, Okla., has hired Honeywell for an $80.6 million energy efficiency project that will be the Air Force's largest domestic energy retrofit funded through guaranteed savings.
The project will help Tinker meet the mandated 30 percent energy reduction goal defined by Presidential Executive Order 13514. It should also remove Tinker from atop the list of the most energy-intensive Air Force bases.
The upgrades are expected to save $6.4 million the first year after the work is complete and more than $170 million over 20 years, guaranteed by Honeywell through an energy savings performance contract. The Air Force plans to use the reduction in utility and operating expenses to pay for the project and ongoing maintenance, also provided by Honeywell.
The improvements will trim the use of natural gas by almost 27 percent, and annual carbon dioxide emissions are estimated to decrease by more than 60 million pounds, equivalent to removing 6,100 cars from the road. In addition, the project will help create and sustain local jobs, with more than 500 Honeywell workers and supporting tradespeople expected on site during peak construction. The project will touch more than half the base, almost 9.5 million square feet of space.
Honeywell's technicians will decommission three central steam plants and downsize a fourth, removing 56 buildings from the base's steam heat grid. The plants will be replaced by high-efficiency heating equipment at each building, which requires putting in more than four miles of natural gas piping, approximately 130 packaged hot-water and steam boilers, and a variety of infrared and direct-fired gas heaters. Honeywell will operate the new boilers and manage the water treatment program for the equipment. And it will enhance 15 other facilities that will remain on the steam grid.
To measure and verify the energy savings, Honeywell will install an advanced metering system, which will include submeters from E-Mon, its subsidiary. Metering data will be tied into Honeywell Energy Manager and displayed on an energy dashboard, which will provide a granular view of how and where natural gas and electricity are being consumed. Tinker AFB will also use its existing Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator for overall control of heating, cooling and metering equipment.
Along with the technology, Honeywell will provide a Technical Resource Manager for the life of the contract who will ensure project continuity, manage measurement and verification, monitor operations and maintenance, and act as the primary liaison for base personnel.
The construction phase of the project is expected to be complete in 2015.
Recently, Honeywell announced it was acquiring intelligent building controls provider Saia Burgess Controls from Hong Kong-based Johnson Electric for $130 million.
