Community Toolkit > Energy > Energy Conservation > Working With ESCOs

Town/Schools Efficiency Project

Brattleoro, VT

Community Profile:
Situated along the western bank of the Connecticut River and flanked to the west by the iconic hills that have come to characterize this Northern New England state, Brattleboro, population 12,000, lies just a stone’s throw from New Hampshire, and a mere ten miles from the Massachusetts border. Brattleboro is governed by a town manager and a five-member Selectboard.

Brattleboro officials demonstrated their commitment to reducing emissions by signing on to ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection Campaign in January of 2002. Accordingly, the Town has set a goal of reducing overall emissions by 10% below 2000 levels by 2010, with a 20% reduction for municipal buildings and operations.

Project Steps:

1. The Town of Brattleboro and Brattleboro Town School District, at the suggestion of Brattleboro Climate Protection (BCP) Task Force member Blake Ross, a former Energy Services Company (ESCO) employee, made the decision to seek out and enter into a performance contract with an ESCO in order to make efficiency upgrades in the Town’s municipal and elementary school buildings (an ESCO, as defined by the National Association of Energy Services Companies [NAESC], is a business that develops, installs, and finances projects designed to improve the energy efficiency and maintenance costs for facilities—generally over a seven to 10 year time period. NAESC offers an online directory of its members.)
2. BCP members initially worked with Efficiency Vermont* and Siemens, Inc. to conduct preliminary studies for efficiency opportunities in fourteen of Brattleboro’s buildings, and the results were prepared by Neil Curtis and presented to the Selectboard.
   
   * Efficiency Vermont is a statewide provider of energy efficiency services, operated by an independent, non-profit organization under contract to the Vermont Public Service Board. The group is funded by an energy efficiency charge on customers’ electricity bills. The organization was founded in 2000 by the Vermont legislature and the Vermont Public Service Board “to help all Vermonters save energy, reduce energy costs and protect Vermont's environment.” Efficiency Vermont provides technical advice, financial assistance and design guidance to help make Vermont homes, farms, schoolsand businesses energy efficient.
   
3. With the Board’s approval, BCP then composed and issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to approximately ten ESCOs in June of 2005. The RFP called for interested ESCOs to submit proposals to identify and implement capital improvements to “reduce energy and related costs in facilities such that annual cost savings are applied to annual payments for improvements.” The bids were to cover both the town and school district projects.

4. BCP set up a committee to review project proposals submitted by Siemens and Honeywell, Inc. The committee interviews both candidates using this list of questions. In addition, Paul Cameron of Brattleboro Climate Protection called the references provided by the ESCOs and asked these questions. Both companies checked out well, but in the end committee members felt as though Honeywell was more direct about answering their questions, and unanimously decided to use Honeywell.
5. Since the project’s unanimous approval at the annual Town Meeting in March of 2006, Honeywell has carried out an investment grade audit, and presented the findings to the Selectboard and School Board, both of which saw fit to approve the project in February of 2007. To see the audit for the town buildings, click here. For the school district audit, click here.
6. To avoid having to vote on a bond, committee members chose to finance the project through a municipal lease. They sent out another RFP soliciting several municipal leasing companies and banks nationwide, including Honeywell. Of the four proposals received, they chose Citibank’s, which offered the lowest interest rate. See the proposal here.

The project is expected to begin in June 2007.

Cost and Savings:
The initial work done by Siemens and Efficiency Vermont was free.

Benefits:
Honeywell projects the following annual savings for the Town and School District:

• 48,387 gallons of fuel oil
• 449,781 kWh of electricity
• Cost savings - $131,804
• 746 tons of CO2  (a 22% reduction)

Contacts:

Paul Cameron, Director
Brattleboro Climate Protection
230 Main Street, Suite 202
Brattleboro,VT05301
Phone: (802) 251-8135
Email: pcameron@brattleboro.org

Neil Curtis, Sr. Project Manager
Efficiency Vermont
255 S Champlain St # 7
Burlington, VT 05401
(888) 921-5990, extension 1112
ncurtis@veic.org

Blake Ross
Phone: 802-254-0242
Email: bwross@adelphia.net

Ron Beruta
Business Development Manager
Honeywell, Inc.
35 Summit Drive
Averill Park, NY  12018
(518) 674-3857
ron.beruta@honeywell.com

Downloads to Use as Templates:

Brattleboro Request for Proposal (RFP)

Article 12 Resolution with background

Letter to the Editor

Honeywell Memo

Financing RFP

ESCO Interview Questions

ESCO Reference Questions

Courtesy of Energy Services Coalition:

Model Request for Proposals (RFP) for Energy Performance Contracting Services

Supporting Letters

Evaluation Forms

Suggested ESCO Interview Questions

ESCO Directory

Contract for Technical Energy Audit & Project Development for Energy Performance Contracting Services

Model Energy Performance Contract

Information:

Honeywell Performance Contracting Presentation

5 Steps to Successful Energy Performance Contracting

Efficiency Vermont’s Preliminary Findings

Citibank Financing Proposal

Links:

Online ESCO Directory

Energy Services Coalition

Honeywell Building Solutions-Energy Performance Contracts

Siemens Performance Based Solutions

National Association of Energy Service Companies

Efficiency Vermont

Other Efficiency Organizations:

Efficiency Maine

Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund

New York Energy Smart

Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Partnership

New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program

Other Communities:

New Hampshire:

• City of Concord’s performance contracting RFP.

Massachusetts:

• Massachusetts uses an RFQ process so solicit ESCOs. Read Newton’s RFQ.
• Read a Massachusetts Municipal Administration article on Belmont and performance contracting.

Connecticut:

• Read Stratford’s RFQ for Comprehensive Energy Management Services Program for Stratford High School.

New York:

• Read a performance contracting RFP template from the New York Public Housing Authority.

Rhode Island:

• Twenty-four of the twenty-five Housing Authorities of Rhode Island entered into a cooperative agreement for the purpose of selecting an energy efficient consultant to conduct an energy audit of their Public Housing properties and to investigate the potential of utilizing Energy Performance Contracting. Read the RFP.

Pennsylvania:

• Read about the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Guaranteed Energy Savings Act.
• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Facility Performance Contracting RFP

• Read a performance contracting RFP from Susquenita School District, PA.