FEMP Digest: Energy Exchange 2022 Date and Location Announced

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Energy dot gov Office of Energy Efficiency and renewable energy

Federal Energy Management Program

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May 9, 2022

In This Issue

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Energy Exchange 2022 Date and Location Announced

Mark your calendars for this year’s Energy Exchange from October 25-27, 2022 in Cincinnati, Ohio!

After a two-year in-person hiatus, we are excited to announce the date and location for Energy Exchange 2022. The Energy Exchange remains one of the best opportunities for agencies to ensure their workforce understands leadership directions, priorities, goals, and strategies. It’s also a unique opportunity to fulfill training mandates in alignment with legislative and administration workforce development objectives. The event provides a place to network with energy and water professionals leading to development and implementation solutions that can make the federal government a leader in the transition to a clean energy economy.

For the first time, we’re also co-locating our annual Federal Energy and Water Management Awards recognition event with the Energy Exchange – so come and celebrate the 2021 and 2022 winners! Make this Energy Awareness Month one to remember by learning from others, hearing the latest on federal energy and water management topics, and recognizing champions in the field.

This year’s theme is "Advancing Federal Infrastructure through Innovation", with the technical program focusing on:

  • Federal Government Leading by Example: Discussions on Policy and Direction
  • Planning for Net-Zero Buildings, Fleets, and Operations
  • Climate Resilient Infrastructure and Facilities
  • Technologies and Practices for Sustainable and Smart Federal Facilities and Installations
  • Performance Contracting, Sustainable Procurement, and Project Development.

DOE Releases Energy-Saving Rules for Federal Buildings

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently published updates to the Baseline Energy Efficiency Standards for New Federal Commercial and Multi-Family High-Rise Residential Buildings (10 CFR part 433) and Baseline Energy Efficiency Standards for the Design and Construction of New Federal Low-Rise Residential Buildings (10 CFR part 435). These rules are effective as of June 6, 2022 and update the baseline federal commercial standard to the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 90.1-2019 and the baseline federal residential standard to the International Code Council (ICC) 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). DOE estimates that these measures will save $4.2 million dollars in operating costs within the first year of implementation.

Federal Commercial and Multi-Family High-Rise Residential Buildings

New federal commercial and multi-family high-rise residential buildings, for which design for construction began on or after April 7, 2023, must use ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2019 as the baseline standard for 10 CFR part 433.

Federal Low-Rise Residential Buildings

New federal low-rise residential buildings, for which design for construction began on or after April 5, 2023, must use the 2021 IECC as the baseline standard for 10 CFR part 435.

Visit the FEMP website for more links to the relevant regulations.

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FEMP Focus

USPS pilot fuels a fork lift.

U.S. Postal Service Washington, D.C., Network Distribution Center Hydrogen Fuel Cell Pilot, 2018 Award Winner

2022 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards Accepting Nominations

FEMP sponsors the annual Federal Energy and Water Management Awards to honor outstanding federal agency achievements in energy, water, and fleet management. Visit the FEMP website for more information and to download the 2022 Criteria and Guidelines. Submit nominations by June 10, 2022

Winners of the 2022 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards will be honored at this year’s Energy Exchange.

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FEMP Resources Spotlight

Case Study: Air Force Invests in Resilience and Cost Savings at Joint Base San Antonio using Energy Savings Performance Contracting

Joint Base San Antonio's (JBSA) $132.1 million energy savings performance contract (ESPC) was awarded on September 10, 2018, with a performance period of 22 years, using the U.S. Department of Energy ESPC indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The scope of the project provides upgrades and improvements to approximately 900 buildings, totaling 14.7 million square feet and includes seven comprehensive energy conservation measures. 


Case Study: Calculating Energy and Water Loads for Resilience Planning

This new case study outlines the different methods used to identify energy and water requirements at the site as a part of the Technical Resilience Navigator's Baseline Development module.


Fact Sheet: Best Practices for EMIS Metadata Schemas

FEMP promotes best practices for impactful utilization of energy management information systems (EMIS) at federal facilities, as detailed in the EMIS Technical Resources Report. A new best practices fact sheet highlights how metadata schemas and standard naming conventions can helps EMIS to consistently analyze, visualize, and derive value from operational data. 


Fact Sheet: Best Practices for Enhancing Performance Contracts with MBCx

Monitoring-based commissioning (MBCx), a type of energy management information system (EMIS), is commercially available but underutilized in performance contracts. MBCx provides additional energy and related cost savings and streamlines the collection of actionable data to ensure savings persistence.  These and other benefits for are highlighted in the few fact sheet: Best Practices for Enhancing Performance Contracts with MBCx, which draws from the recent FEMP report, Enhancing Performance Contracts Using Monitoring-based Commissioning.


FEMP Website: Understanding Federal On-Site Distributed Energy Procurement Options

This updated webpage provides information about government-owned and third-party owned procurement options and includes an overview and details about the applicable legal authority and contract length for each option.


Tool: Federal Campuses Face a Complex Energy Security Landscape—A New DER-CF and Cyber Range Integration Helps Assess and Address Cybersecurity Risks

To help federal energy managers assess, monitor, and manage cybersecurity, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL’s) Distributed Energy Resource Cybersecurity Framework (DER-CF) offers a comprehensive, web-based assessment tool focused on cyber governance or policies, technical management, and physical security. NREL and FEMP are now elevating the DER-CF to a new plane by integrating the tool with NREL’s cyber range, allowing for interactive visualization of current and future cybersecurity scenarios for each site.

Integrating DER-CF data with the cyber range will be transformative, enabling federal decision makers to emulate site-wide energy systems for a more comprehensive picture of DER-related cybersecurity issues and strategies. Read the full story: NREL’s Cyber Range Offers Eagle-Eye View of Federal Energy Asset Security.


Tool: FEMP Trains Federal Employees to Conduct Healthy Buildings Assessments of Federal Facilities using H-BEST

FEMP and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are working with federal facilities within the General Services Administration, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Interior to collect and analyze Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) data. The participating facilities have included office buildings, hospitals, and schools. For the audit, FEMP developed a comprehensive virtual training program that covers the deployment of sensors for each of the facilities and trained individual facility managers on how to use them. After collecting the data, FEMP used the Healthy Buildings Toolkit (H-BEST) to interpret the data and identify improvements related to lighting, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality to benefit occupant health and productivity while reducing energy consumption.


Tool: New Rainwater Harvesting Tool

FEMP, in partnership with PNNL, recently launched an online, GIS-based Rainwater Harvesting Tool to help federal agencies strategically prioritize commercial rainwater harvesting projects. Rainwater harvesting systems capture, divert, and store precipitation from rooftops for later use. The tool provides a range of available rainwater for harvesting at the site level across the U.S. both for general applications and specifically for landscape irrigation. The tool compliments previous releases of the Rainwater Harvesting Calculator, which estimates how much water needs to be collected to support a site, as well as the Rainwater Harvesting Regulation Tool, which translates legal parameters. Eventually, these tools will be hosted on a single interactive platform and are currently stored together on the FEMP Alternative Water Sources page.

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Upcoming Live Webinar Trainings

Visit the FEMP Training Catalog to view all available live and on-demand trainings.


EV Champion Training Series

This four-part training series serves as an introduction to electric vehicle (EV) technology and considerations for EVSE installation. This course focuses on the selection of the best EVs for your fleet and planning for the installation of EVSE that will serve the needs of these new vehicles. 

The three remaining trainings will be held from 10:00 AM–12:00 PM EDT. Select from the trainings below to register. 


Long-Term Management of Measurement and Verification  

May 24, 2022 1:00 PM–2:00 PM EDT | Register to Attend

This training focuses on the long-term management of agency measurement and verification (M&V) during the performance period of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC). Annual verification of savings is a legal and contractual requirement in ESPC. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)-Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) ESPC identifies required ESPC project activities during the performance period. FEMP provides guidance on how to actively participate in witnessing energy service company (ESCO) M&V activities and how to review annual M&V reports.


Life of Contract Documentation Review With Audit Checklist  

June 9, 2022 1:00 PM–2:00 PM EDT | Register to Attend

This training discusses the responsibilities of agency contracting and technical personnel for administering an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) task order during the post-acceptance performance period. It also focuses on life-of-contract (LOC) services and training provided by the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to agencies with ESPCs in the performance period. Attendees gain an understanding of the importance of a contract management plan and their responsibilities in support of the contracting officer in order to survive with flying colors any future audit.

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New Self-Paced, On-Demand Trainings

The following are recently posted trainings. Visit the FEMP Training Catalog to view all available live and on-demand trainings.


Re-Tuning Training for Buildings With Building Automation Systems 

6 Hours | 0.7 CEUs | Introductory 

This course helps engage building operators/managers and students to reduce operating costs and provide energy savings to the buildings they are responsible for or will be responsible for in the future. The knowledge and skills learned here will be highly valued in the energy, controls, HVAC, and renewable industries.

If your building does not employ BAS, see the Re-tuning Training for Buildings Without Building Automation Systems course.


Re-Tuning Training for Buildings Without Building Automation Systems

2 Hours | 0.3 CEUs | Introductory 

This course teaches ways to reduce operating costs and provide energy savings to the building you're responsible for or will be responsible for in the future. However, the focus is on buildings that do not have a building automation system (BAS). The measures identified in this course are more prescriptive in nature, and the buildings are primarily served by packaged equipment. If your building employs a BAS, see the Re-tuning Training for Buildings with Building Automation Systems course. 

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