U.S. General Services Administration
GSA’s Building Innovation Leads to Huge Savings in Oklahoma City
Energy conservation isn’t an unfamiliar concept to GSA’s Greater Southwest Region, however, the way it is achieved is always being modernized to perfect their process. This time around, they stepped outside of the box with a new approach for implementing an energy contract in Oklahoma City.
The Oklahoma Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC) project originated in 2019 and is currently in the construction phase. From the onset of the project, GSA ensured that grid-interactive efficient building strategies were top priority. The goal of these strategies will ultimately bring the Oklahoma City Campus Building and the grid into an interactive alignment, while delivering the most energy and water savings possible to the GSA Oklahoma building portfolio.
GSA will save $13.5 million over the course of the contract through utility savings in five Oklahoma buildings through efficiency measures such as LED lighting, high efficiency transformers and HVAC controls. The Oklahoma City Campus Building saw the most advanced upgrades with a large solar PV installation on the roof, a cutting edge battery storage system and a smart microgrid controller which will allow the facility to dynamically integrate with the demands and flow of the electric grid.
“This was an amazing opportunity for GSA to yet again lead by example. The Campus Building is the first GSA building to undergo such a dramatic transformation with the intent of making the facility truly integrated with the grid. It has been an incredible team effort to get to this point,” said Tyler Harris, Branch Chief of the Energy and Sustainability Division in GSA Region 7.
GSA hopes the outcome of this energy project will be used to pave the way for a more flexible and interconnected building grid across the federal government.