Griffiss International Airport Energy Performance Contract

Griffiss International Airport is owned and operated by the County, the site comprises 1,680 acres, various airside facilities including several large hangars, and an 11,800-foot runway. Oneida County sought a qualified contractor to disconnect the County-owned facilities from the their utility provider steam, modernize their mechanical systems, and increase their energy performance to make them less costly to own and operate. 

C&S conducted a full energy audit of the County–owned facilities and identified a portfolio of cost-effective energy conservation measures (ECMs) that would save the County $1.3 million per year. The County elected to finance these improvements over a 17-year period using an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) for a total investment of $22 million. Like a mortgage, financing allowed the County to support three separate capital projects that otherwise would not have been within budget. 

The scope and ECMs for the project were as follows: 

• Remove GUSC Steam from all county-owned buildings 
• Replace all steam equipment with natural gas 
• Provide new natural gas service to buildings 100, 101 and 41 
• Steam systems converted to hot water hydronic using localized natural gas boilers 
• Upgrade all interior and exterior lighting to LED with smart lighting controls (scheduling, occupancy, and dimming) 

• Natural gas infrared heating in all hangar/high bay applications 
• Complete mechanical system for Center Core (Innovare center)* 
• New roof and insulation for Center Core* 
• Complete mechanical system for MVCC aviation building* 
• Provide and install anechoic material for Skydome* 

• Install and commission a campus-wide Building Automation System (BAS) with on-going monitoring under a controls service contract to ensure continued performance. 

The contract was executed using a collaborative design-build approach. C&S was responsible for the energy contract, the architecture and engineering services as well as providing various GC, millwright, electrical and plumbing services. The integrated approach allowed feedback from the A/E and mechanical teams during project design – crucial to ensuring that designs met their intent and optimized energy savings opportunities. 

The project was challenging in three areas:

• The schedule was exceedingly tight: the contract was awarded in July of 2019 and the County wanted to be off the steam system in time to avoid another heating season.  
• All parties had to be comfortable with some uncertainty as the project kicked-off with a discovery phase that would define the final scope.  
• The design and construction environment was very dynamic as concurrent capital projects were taking place in the same buildings as well as elsewhere on the airport site.  

C&S was able to deliver a completed project on budget, on time, and with dramatically better energy savings than the forecasted goal. The controls service agreement between C&S and Griffiss includes an energy data collection and analysis component that will ensure that ECMs will continue to perform.