In 2003, the University of Kansas partnered with Chevron Energy Solutions to help reduce utility bills and reduce the carbon footprint of the campus. The project resulted in over $18 million of facility upgrades and infrastructure improvements being implemented. The project was structured as a performance contract which leverages energy savings resulting from the energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades to pay for the project.To help sustain savings, Chevron ES employs energy resource managers (ERM) who work full-time on the KU campus. An ERM assists university personnel with on-going efforts to conserve energy during the contract period. This includes, but is not limited to, maintaining building schedules within the Building Automated Control System, providing energy education to faculty, staff and students, and interfacing with Chevron and KU personnel.
An Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) project is a partnership between the customer and an Energy Services Company (ESCO). The ESCO conducts a comprehensive energy audit and identifies improvements that will save energy, water and operational expenses at a facility. The ESCO guarantees that the improvements will generate utility savings and measures the performance of the improvements to ensure they are occurring. If the savings do not occur then the ESCO must reimburse the customer for the amount of the shortfall. In short, the process redirects money that is currently paid to utility companies and puts it back into a customer's facilities in the form of needed, new equipment, making the facilities more efficient, more comfortable and safer.
Under a firm fixed-price contract, the ESCO assumes full responsibility for total project management, including design, engineering, installation, training, monitoring, measurement and verification, and other ongoing support services. Several benefits have been associated with the ESPC:
