Army National Guard Awards Ameresco Energy Savings Performance Contract for National Headquarters

FRAMINGHAM, MA and WASHINGTON, DC – June 5, 2014 – Ameresco, Inc., (NYSE:AMRC), a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, announced today that the Army National Guard has awarded Ameresco an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) task order to improve the energy efficiency of the Army National Guard headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. The budget-neutral project utilizes Ameresco’s master ESPC with the Department of Energy and is expected to reduce the headquarters’ energy consumption by over 20 percent through IT system efficiencies and upgrades to the headquarters’ lighting and cooling systems.

“Ameresco is proud to support the Army National Guard as they enhance their energy efficiency and continue to lead by example at their national headquarters,” said Nicole Bulgarino, Vice President, Federal Solutions, Ameresco. “From high efficiency lighting to virtual desktops, this project maximizes every square inch of opportunity to save energy and operate efficiently.”

The U.S. Army National Guard Readiness Center is the national headquarters for the central command and coordination of all state-wide Army National Guard units throughout the country. The 17 acre complex, just outside of Washington, D.C., includes two major buildings known as Arlington Hall Station 1, built in 1992, and Arlington Hall Station 2, built in 2011.

As part of the ESPC, Ameresco will install five major energy conservation measures (ECMs) across 500,000 square feet of office space to reduce total site energy consumption by 21 percent. The ESPC is expected to yield energy and operations and maintenance (O&M) savings of more than $738,000 annually. One primary measure to reduce electrical demand addresses IT systems by virtualizing over 3,000 PC desktop workstations and streamlining print management. This IT improvement will save electricity by using low-power terminals versus personal computers.

Combined with upgrades to the headquarters’ lighting systems, including the installation of over 7,600 high efficiency lighting fixtures, the ESPC will save 27,771 MBtu annually which has an emissions reduction equivalent to removing approximately 1,100 automobiles from the road each year.

“The benefit to using the Energy Savings Performance Contract is that it will allow us to complete energy-saving upgrades to Arlington Hall without up-front capital costs or use of appropriated funds,” said Major Sergio Molina, Contracting Officer for the Army National Guard. “ESPCs may be used for any federally owned facility. The contractor incurs the cost of implementing energy conservation measures and is paid from the energy, water, and operations savings resulting from these ECMs.”

The ESPC also will improve the buildings’ central cooling system by replacing the existing chiller and restoring the functionality of the existing ice storage tanks, which have been inoperable. These ice storage tanks which are underground, will cool water for the HVAC system during off-peak hours to reduce daytime peak demand, which saves on electricity costs.

Additionally, interior water conservation measures and irrigation system improvements are expected to reduce water consumption by 17 percent annually, saving more than 1.7 million gallons of water per year.

This ESPC project supports the Army National Guard’s commitment towards the President’s Better Building Challenge, which since 2011 has directed federal agencies to leverage $4 billion worth of performance-based contracts for energy savings at no upfront cost to taxpayers.

Ameresco will begin project construction this month and buildings will continue to be fully-operational and occupied during the construction period.

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 facilities throughout North America.  Ameresco’s 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 provides local expertise through its 70 offices in 33 states and the District of Columbia, five Canadian provinces and the United Kingdom.  Ameresco has more than 900 employees. For more information, visit www.ameresco.com.
 

The announcement of a customer’s entry into or commencement of 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.