Ameresco Partners with Denver for the City’s First-Ever Energy Performance Contract

City guaranteed over $2.4 million in energy savings over 15 years

FRAMINGHAM, MA and DENVER, CO – January 13, 2016 – Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, announced today that through a partnership with the Strategic Initiatives Division of General Services and with funding provided by Denver’s Environmental Health Department, the City and County of Denver has entered into a nearly two million dollar energy performance contract (EPC) with the Company. Ameresco was pre-qualified by the Colorado Energy Office and Denver selected the energy service provider for the City’s first-ever EPC. Under an EPC, an energy service provider implements energy and infrastructure upgrade improvements to a building or group of buildings and guarantees projected energy savings through a highly regulated measurement and verification process. Any projected savings that are not attained are covered by the provider.

“This contract is a guaranteed way for the City to make progress toward its 2020 Sustainability Goals while incurring none of the risk,” said Denver’s Executive Director of General Services, Adrienne Benavidez. Denver’s 2020 Sustainability Goals include a goal of reducing energy consumed by City-operated buildings and vehicles by 20%. Dionne Williams, the Director of the Strategic Initiatives Division, will oversee implementation of the contract for the City.

“Ameresco is honored to have been selected by Denver as its sustainability partner for its first energy savings performance project,” said Louis Maltezos, Executive Vice President, Ameresco. “This project demonstrates the City’s leadership and commitment to environmental stewardship and will help to achieve its sustainability goals. The infrastructure upgrades are expected to deliver greater energy efficiency and operational cost savings, enhance comfort for building occupants, and reduce greenhouse gasses and emissions.”

Denver’s EPC includes a total of 88 energy efficiency improvements to 14 of the City’s most energy intensive buildings, including four recreation centers, four libraries, three fire stations, and the 911 Call Center. The improvements are guaranteed to create energy savings averaging 17% across all 14 buildings, with four of the buildings expected to reduce their energy use by over 30%. This project identified and targets some of the City’s largest energy consumers for efficiency upgrades. Through these improvements, the City is guaranteed to save over $2.4 million in the first 15 years, and is expected to begin realizing savings within the first year.

This project helps Denver move closer to achieving its 2020 energy and sustainability goals. The environmental benefits include the reduction of more than 2.17 million pounds of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to eliminating 200 passenger vehicles from the road annually, saving enough electricity to power 90 homes each year, or the equivalent of planting 810 acres of pine forest annually.

About Denver’s Strategic Initiatives Division
Strategic Initiatives (SI) is a division of General Services (GS) responsible for the development, management and administration of energy efficiency programs, ensuring the continued sustainability of those programs, and the Records Management program for the city.  SI manages the City’s utilities and monitors progress related to the Government Buildings metrics as part of the Mayor’s 2020 Sustainability Goals.  SI also manages the Better Buildings Challenge initiative through the US Department of Energy, which has a goal of reducing energy usage in participating buildings by 20% over 2011 levels by 2020.

About Ameresco, Inc.
Founded in 2000, Ameresco, Inc. (NYSE: AMRC) is a leading independent provider of comprehensive services, energy efficiency, infrastructure upgrades, asset sustainability and renewable energy solutions for businesses and organizations throughout North America and Europe. Ameresco’s sustainability services include upgrades to a facility’s energy infrastructure and the development, construction and operation of renewable energy plants. Ameresco has successfully completed energy saving, environmentally responsible projects with Federal, state and local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, housing authorities, and commercial and industrial customers. With its corporate headquarters in Framingham, MA, Ameresco has more than 1,000 employees providing local expertise in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.

The announcement of a customer’s entry into a project contract is not necessarily indicative of the timing or amount of revenue from such contract, of the company’s overall revenue for any particular period or of trends in the company’s overall total construction backlog. This project was included in our previously reported awarded projects as of September 30, 2015 and is included in our fully contracted backlog as of December 31, 2015.