City of Fort Worth: Southside Service Center

Background

Opened in 1987, the Southside Service Center provides facilities for portions of the City’s Equipment Services, Code Compliance, and Transportation & Public Works departments. The multi-building campus totals roughly 63,000 sq. ft., the largest part a single-story, wood-framed building of 42,000 sq. ft. The Southside Service Center project was part of a larger $10.9M phase of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC), and was based on an energy assessment conducted by the City’s competitively-selected energy service company (ESCo.).

The Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) was established by the 77th Texas Legislature in 2001, through enactment of Senate Bill 5. The TERP includes voluntary financial incentive and other programming to assist political subdivisions in improving the air quality across Texas. Under the TERP, affected entities such as the City are asked to implement energy efficiency measures and to establish a goal to reduce their electricity consumption. The State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) of Texas assists political subdivisions in meeting TERP goals by providing various forms of assistance. In 2001, the City consulted SECO about best-practice to achieve the stated TERP goal; ESPCs were considered one such way. The City chose to develop an ESPC through competitive, best-value selection of an ESCo. After selection, the City’s first phase of its amendable ESPC was authorized in 2003. Since substantial completion of ESPC Phase 1 in 2004, the City has fully implemented seven other phases from development through construction and performance. The ESPC Phase 7 was authorized in 2013, with substantial portions completed in 2014 and the performance period extending through 2026. While over 100 City facilities were included in previous ESPC phases, the Southside Service Center had not been due mostly to its smaller size and the types of departments served. This site was selected as part of ESPC Phase 7 because it proved to have cost-effective opportunities based on the ESCo’s assessment.

Solutions

Project solutions identified at the Southside Service Center may be considered common opportunities, replicable across many building types. Cost-effective solutions selected for implementation included lighting, air-conditioning, control, and water system improvements. Fort Worth looks for solutions that generate annual cost-avoidance sufficient to pay for the turn-key cost of implementation, including development, financing, and performance verification. For implementation, solutions must indicate simple paybacks within their useful lives.

The Southside Service Center project included the following facility improvement measures, which are followed by a table of their estimated impacts:

Lighting Improvements – interior T8, T5, and compact fluorescent lamps, electronic ballasts, reflectors, occupancy-based controls, LED exit sign and wall-pack fixtures, and exterior LED fixtures with automatic-controls
HVAC & DDC Upgrades – variable-air-volume terminal units, water control valves, variable-frequency motor drives, and direct-digital controls
Retro-Commissioning – control point verification, functional performance testing and balancing of building air-conditioning systems
Water Conservation – low-flow toilets, flushometers, and faucet aerators

Scope of Work	ESPC Cost ($)	Annual Cost Avoidance ($)				Simple Payback
		Electricity	Natural Gas	Water	Total
Lighting Improvements	$132,799	$9,191	$(157)	$0	$9,034	15-years
HVAC & DDC Upgrades	$246,077	$13,812	$1,891	$0	$15,703	16-years
Retro-Commissioning	$10,350	$1,150	$304	$0	$1,454	7.1-years>
Water Conservation	$31,512	$0	$110	$7,742	$7,851	4.0-years
Final Engineering	$10,260
Construction Svcs.	$33,490
Pay. & Perf. Bond	$2,837
Total	$467,325	$24,153	$2,148	$7,742	$34,042	14-years

ANNUAL ENERGY USE

(Source EUI)

ANNUAL ENERGY COST

ANNUAL WATER USE

ANNUAL WATER COST

ANNUAL PLANT ELECTRICITY USE

ANNUAL PLANT ELECTRICITY COST

IN BUILDING ENERGY USE

IN BUILDING ENERGY COST

ACROSS NETWORK USE

ACROSS NETWORK COST

ANNUAL EMISSIONS

USE

COST

City of Fort Worth: Southside Service Center

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