Ameresco wins $20 million Mass. energy management system deal

The Massachusetts State Division of Capital Asset Management & Maintenance (DCAMM) contracted with Framingham, MA-based Ameresco to upgrade the College’s energy infrastructure and to add renewable energy resources to help achieve a green urban campus. The ESPC project is expected to be completed by year-end 2017, and to result in nearly $860,000 in annual energy savings for the College.

The ESPC project encompasses 23 energy conservation measures, and will address campus-wide interior and exterior LED lighting enhancements and a complete upgrade of the College’s Energy Management System. The energy efficiency and sustainable buildings modernization also includes the installation of a unique geothermal heat pump system with a canopied PV system overhead. The geothermal system affords an estimated 400-ton capacity, and the approximately 3,000 solar panels to be installed represent nearly a megawatt of power.

“The innovative, tri-level renewable solution for Parking Lot 1 is the most unique aspect of our project, and will be the first of its kind in Massachusetts,” said Kevin Hepner, Vice President of Finance and Administration at RCC. “Beneath the parking lot, we’ll have 115 geothermal wells, 500-feet deep to function as our heating and cooling source. On the surface, we’ll have parking for 320 cars, in addition to electric charging stations for up to six cars. Then, above the lot, we’ll have a solar canopy with a 1 million kWh electric generation capacity providing renewable energy. This triple-value renewable solution provides tremendous strides in supporting and helping to achieve our sustainability goals.”

This ESPC project with Ameresco is funded in part through G.O. Bonds, a Leading by Example Clean Energy Grant, utility incentives and the Clean Energy Investment Program, with the balance repaid from savings in energy costs. Ameresco has worked with the College to design the budget-neutral, campus-wide energy infrastructure upgrades intended to enhance the comfort of facilities, provide energy cost savings, generate clean renewable resources, and reduce the College’s carbon footprint.

David J. Anderson, Executive Vice President, Ameresco, says, “This project demonstrates leadership, and the value that Roxbury Community College and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts place on efficiency, renewable resources and environmental stewardship.”