TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Florida –
(Editor's Note: DLA Energy's Cynthia Obermeyer contributed to this story)
The Defense Logistics Agency Energy awarded an energy savings performance contract Dec. 13, for the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, or OC-ALC, at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
The $262 million project, the largest in the Air Force, was awarded to Honeywell International, Inc., to modernize 50 buildings, totaling more than 10 million square feet, with energy conservation measures expected to increase energy efficiency, reliability, surety and resiliency, with particular emphasis on industrial infrastructure process improvements.
After completion of a 42-month construction effort, included as part of the 25-year performance period, the total annual energy savings are projected to be 641 billion British thermal units per year, equivalent to the average annual energy consumption of more than 8,300 homes. In addition to a projected 35-percent reduction in OC-ALC energy usage, this project provides water efficiencies, with OC-ALC water usage projected to reduce 9 percent.
This effort is a holistic approach to the OC-ALC intended to achieve improvements in energy efficiency, water efficiency and industrial process improvements for the OC-ALC depot maintenance facilities. Energy conservation measures to be implemented include: the decentralization of steam by replacing an aging central heat plant system with distributed heating solutions, chiller plant improvements including two new 2,000-ton chillers, energy management control system upgrades, energy-related process improvements including paint booth and thermal spray booth optimization, compressed air and industrial waste treatment, light-emitting diode lighting upgrades and controls, infrared heating retrofits, and water and sewer conservation that will increase efficiencies across all OC-ALC systems.
The project is a joint effort among Tinker, Honeywell, DLA Energy, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. The team of energy and contracting experts from each organization was able to execute the award in 21 months.
Cynthia Obermeyer, DLA Energy supervisory contract specialist and DLA Energy lead for the OC-ALC ESPC, agreed that the joint effort was key to the successful contract award. “This could not have been accomplished without the collaborative effort of the OC-ALC, DLA Energy and the contractor,” Obermeyer said. “The contractor was very supporting and collaborative. They developed a live eRoom where we could work the many different aspects online [in real time]. That cut a lot of process time out of the equation. We worked two steps ahead all the time and had weekly progress meetings. The contractor brought in their best [personnel], who were very cooperative. We all agreed up front that we would make this happen and we all worked around the clock until we did!”
Les Martin, AFCEC program development division chief, said the Tinker OC-ALC and DLA energy teams exceeded expectations and were instrumental in the execution of this extensive project. In fact, the execution of this award is not only a success for the Air Force, but the entire federal government.
“The triad of experts from DLA, Tinker and AFCEC were truly amazing during the development of this project,” Martin said. “Their efforts put the federal government over the top, achieving the Presidential Performance Contracting Challenge goal of awarding $4 billion for ESPCs by Dec. 31, 2016.”