Fort Riley ESPC

Overview

Fort Riley is a world-class training installation and home to the 1st Infantry Division, also known as "The Big Red One," one of the longest serving active-duty units of the United States Army. Fort Riley contains combat-ready forces and, on order, deploys these forces in an expeditionary manner. The garrison serves over 15,000 active-duty service members and 18,000 family members.

Fort Riley's increased energy use and operational concerns led them to explore an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) with support from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to replace aging mechanical equipment, improve the existing equipment efficiency, reduce the chronic chiller plant maintenance, and upgrade their energy management controls system to enable them to proactively troubleshoot issues and improve occupancy comfort.

Additionally, the installation needed to address cybersecurity compliance issues that prevented them from obtaining an authority to operate (ATO), which significantly limited their effectiveness. Before the ESPC, there was not sufficient funding available to achieve their goals of reducing energy use intensity, improving operational efficiency, reducing maintenance costs, and enhancing reliability and resiliency.

Our Approach

Upon selection, Southland identified and developed an extensive array of energy conservation measures (ECMs) to address Fort Riley's facility needs. Southland provided turnkey services that included auditing, design, and construction as well as in-house measurement and verification and ongoing maintenance. The multi-phased approach addressed more than 600 buildings, covering over 5.4 million square feet of building space.

Southland's proven collaborative workshop approach set the stage for clear, open communication across all Fort Riley divisions and key Army Corps stakeholders. This enabled Southland to successfully execute all five phases of the ESPC on schedule, within budget, and with zero lost time accidents.

Southland collaborated with Fort Riley's Network Enterprise Center to thoroughly understand the specific requirements of successfully completing the risk management framework steps and meeting the cybersecurity requirements necessary to gain Department of Defense accreditation. The updated energy management system now has an ATO.

This multi-phased ESPC project provided more than $80 million in improvements, including:

• HVAC upgrades
• Infrared heating
• Base-wide interior, exterior, street, and airfield LED lighting
• Water conservation improvements
• Plumbing
• recommissioning
• Building automation management
• Expansion and upgrades of central plants
• Energy management controls

Result

The project improved operational efficiency, reduced maintenance costs, improved occupant comfort, increased industrial controls cybersecurity, and addressed net-zero water goals.

The project resulted in $4.6 million in annual savings and is projected to save Fort Riley more than $146 million in energy, water, and operational savings over the contract life and exceed its energy intensity reduction goals ahead of schedule.

Additionally, the Fort Riley ESPC was the first project under the U.S. Army Corps ESPC IDIQ to successfully incorporate the risk management framework process that enabled a system authority to operate.

• Successful Partnerships

  Owner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  GC: Southland Industries

• Award-Winning Results

  2022 Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Award | Energy Efficiency (ESPC)
  2022 Federal Energy and Water Management Award | Project Award (ESPC)
  2021 Secretary of the Army | Individual Exceptional Performance (Dan McCallister, ESPC COR)
  2020 Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Award | Energy Efficiency (ESPC)
  2019 Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Award | Energy & Water Resilience Program Effectiveness