A building energy efficiency collaboration between the United States Coast Guard Academy and its Connecticut utility Eversource Energy has worked so well the two are going further to improve the buildings.
The Coast Guard Academy and Eversource are developing the on-campus Maritime Center of Excellence to make the most of power utilization there at the New London, Connecticut site. This $1.83 million project contracts Eversource to extend and install utility lines providing chilled water and natural gas, as well as support energy efficiency measures through the building.
The new effort follows completion of another Coast Guard-Eversource energy efficiency project across more than 30 buildings on campus.
The new work focuses on the 20,000-square-foot Maritime Center of Excellence (MCOE) It will boast a design similar to the Coast Guard fleet with a curvilinear vaulted roof and wooden decks. It also is planned to be a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) gold level-certified building utilizing solar panels, natural ventilation and harvested rainwater.
“Inside and out, we’re working with the Academy to make sure this facility is a learning space that is comfortable and energy efficient,” Penni Conner, executive vice president of customer experience and energy strategy at Eversource, said in a statement.
Project leaders expect to complete the Maritime Center later this year.
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Eversource also will provide interior and exterior lighting measures that are 37% more efficient than local building codes require, along with occupancy sensors, high-efficiency boilers for heating, and an economizer on the air handling unit. These measures will combine to provide electricity savings of 825,000 kWh over the lifetime of the building, reducing the carbon footprint by 528 tons, according to reports.
The construction of the MCOE is sponsored by the United States Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association.
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(Rod Walton, senior editor for EnergyTech, is a 14-year veteran of covering the energy industry both as a newspaper and trade journalist. He can be reached at [email protected]).
