McKinstryImproving Energy Efficiency

For nearly two decades, McKinstry has helped clients make critical facility improvements that save money, improve energy efficiency and assure occupant comfort as an Energy Services Company (ESCO) using the Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) procurement model. With offices across the United States, we can deploy our subject matter experts who understand your unique facility needs anywhere in the country. McKinstry has been in designing, building and caring for the built environment for almost 60 years, so you can rest assured we will be your partner throughout the life of your building.

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    K-12 Education
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    Higher Education
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    State & Local Government

McKinstry provides energy savings performance contracting technical energy audit services to participants of OMNIA Partners. From new construction to ongoing operations, utilize a publicly awarded contract through OMNIA Partners. 

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About McKinstry

Delivering Outcomes That Are Important To You

We can tailor services and scopes of work to account for uniqueness of building function and system complexity, project timing, phasing, technology needs, and budget constraints.

The lowest cost provider - Only a small percentage of an overall project cost comes during the construction period. The majority of project costs come in the operation of the systems over the life span of the equipment. We are cost effective for first cost and our long-term cost is the lowest.

Financial approach and guarantee - We employ a rigorous and detailed process to calculate energy baselines and savings, but performance assurance goes well beyond just calculated savings. We focus on overall system performance.

National supplier qualifications - McKinstry is a vendor-neutral service provider with a national footprint. Most other national firms are tied to a specific product offering, but with McKinstry, you don't have to align with a specific product vendor. Rather, you can choose the right solution for you.

Sometimes energy savings is the most important aspect of a project, but often a project starts with a real problem that needs to be solved. The success of each project we deliver from development to implementation to operations is based on a measurement and verification plan, the successful performance of systems and our customers' satisfaction with the process. Our clients have a long history working with their facilities, and we build upon this knowledge to help ensure the right operational outcomes are achieved on each project, every time.

ESCO's and ESPC's

What is an ESCO?

An Energy Services Company (ESCO) provides a broad range of comprehensive energy solutions including design and implementation of energy savings projects, energy conservation, energy infrastructure outsourcing, power generation and energy supply, and risk management.

ESCOs differ from energy-efficiency consulting firms and equipment contractors because they offer performance-based contracting where the company's compensation, and often the project's financing, is directly linked to the amount of energy that is actually saved. 

What is an ESPC?

An Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) is a budget-neutral approach to make building improvements that reduce energy and water use and increase operational efficiency. Using this approach, an ESCO conducts a comprehensive energy audit for the facility and identifies improvements to save energy and/or create operational efficiencies. In consultation with the owner, the ESCO designs and constructs a project that meets the owner's needs and arranges or supports finding the necessary financing. The ESCO guarantees the improvements will generate energy cost savings sufficient to pay for the project over time. After the contract ends, all additional cost savings accrue to the owner.

ESPCs allow building owners to accomplish energy savings projects with limited or no up-front capital costs. The savings in energy costs are used to pay back the capital investment of the project over a specified period or reinvested to allow for capital upgrades that may otherwise be unfeasible. If the project does not provide the specified return on the investment, the ESCO is responsible to pay the difference or make the necessary changes to achieve the guaranteed results.

Benefits of ESPC

Proven Methodology: a widely accepted means of making facility improvements.

Single Negotiated Contract: Enables the execution of multiple projects under one contract with a single point of accountability. 

Alternative Funding Source: Funds that would have been spent on utilities are spent on facility improvements.

Real Savings: ESCOs have to ensure savings are realized as they are obligated to pay for any shortfall.

Alternative Finance

McKinstry can help develop custom financial solutions for energy efficiency projects. We also coordinate with utility companies and government entities to secure available incentives and rebates. We work within your state's statutory debt limit, procurement legislation, and applicable loan programs to provide finance options in-line with your investment criteria.

Education

K-12

McKinstry has delivered energy services work for hundreds of schools throughout the nation and has the expertise and resources necessary to help schools optimize their energy usage and improve comfort levels for students and faculty.

McKinstry works with schools to understand their facility needs and goals and provides detailed and accurate construction-grade estimates that include capital, operational and maintenance costs. This ensures the most economic and efficient use of capital funds for improving utility systems, upgrading aging equipment, and meeting growing demands on the building systems. Communication to community stakeholders is also important and McKinstry helps manage the necessary listening sessions and public forums to provide full transparency to taxpayers.

Higher Education

Not only do efficient and smart buildings save money, they attract and retain top-notch talent, bolster enrollment, and provide opportunities for research and innovation, while demonstrating a practical commitment to sustainability that today's students value.

There are many ways to create an optimal campus environment. Whether you need a facility master plan, budget-neutral energy efficiency upgrades, smart energy management systems, or a carbon footprint reduction plan, McKinstry is here to help you meet your goal.

Government

McKinstry helps public agencies with the design, construction, and financial insight needed to reduce capital costs, increase revenue, and maximize the value of your taxpayer dollars.

Maintaining your municipal infrastructure is no easy feat. Your per view consists of buildings, street lighting, wastewater plants, utility meters, pools, civic centers, jails, public safety buildings, convention centers, public assembly facilities and athletic complexes. McKinstry understands the unique challenges associated with each of these. Energy savings are certainly important, but not the only thing to be considered when understanding the environmental, political and economic components of a community.

When it comes to light levels in streets or mechanical equipment in buildings, energy efficiency and commitment to sustainability tends to get a community's attention. McKinstry assists with public outreach to educate and respond to community questions, comments and concerns.

Solar

Solar projects are highly scalable and can be tailored to meet budget requirements, financial cash flows, capture industry incentives, and public awareness/messaging needs. McKinstry does a feasibility analysis that looks at rough project costs, savings, maintenance, risks, and other relevant information to help you decide is solar is a viable option for clients.

Throughout the development process, McKinstry uses industry accepted solar modeling tools to predict system performance. McKinstry's solar projects focus on lowering the first cost of installation to create a better return on investment.

Street Lighting

LED roadway lighting has now become a cost-effective retrofit, due to its increased efficiency and performance, and the decreased cost of fixtures. McKinstry's program to Re-light American Roadways is a turn-key solution to convert roadway lighting in our communities in the most cost-effective manner. 

Facility Assessment

Your facilities - and all the assets that keep your building running smoothly - aren't getting any younger. Years of deferred maintenance mean each budget cycle forces you to make hard choices and leave important facility investments on the table. What's more, you're often missing critical information, such as the asset's condition, how compatible it is with your other assets and, most importantly, how it would affect your business if it failed. Without the right data, you run the risk of investing in the wrong places.

McKinstry's trained industry experts interview those who know the building best, visually review every piece of equipment and then assess how critical it is to your business. This facility data is the key to uncovering the condition of your assets, putting them to best use today, and planning projects and capital improvements for the future.

Energy Management

Understanding the performance of your building systems could save you money and energy. Building owners don't have to sacrifice operational excellence or comfort to reduce energy usage and cost.

Many facility owners focus on business requirements and devote minimal effort to measuring and reducing their energy consumption despite significant utility costs. McKinstry's Active Energy Management (AEM) program combines best-in-class technology with hands-on building expertise to systematically deliver utility savings and increase operational performance.

The Active Energy Management approach is agnostic, scalable and client-directed. No black boxes kicking out hundreds of alarms that quickly drown operations teams. Instead, we leverage technology to drive greater understanding of building performance and more rapid feedback for operators. Our goal is to free the operations team from a reactive mode of chasing issues to a proactive mode of investigating system performance enhancement opportunities and ensuring changes result in measurable impacts.

City of Bellingham

City of Bellingham Case Study

The City of Bellingham partnered with McKinstry to convert its streetlights to LED fixtures, cutting energy consumption by as much as 60% while saving $240,000 in annual energy savings. That’s 18,000 retired light bulbs that the city no longer has to pay for, power and maintain. Click on the image to read the case study. 


Contact Information

Jen Coyne
Senior Sales Operations Specialist 
jenn@mckinstry.com
720-577-2017

 

Fawn Staerkel 
Director of Vertical Markets
fawns@mckinstry.com
480-694-4810

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