Warren closes heat plant, feels warmer than ever

  • Published
  • By Kevin Elliott
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Florida --  Work is nearly complete on a large heat plant decentralization and deconstruction project at F.E Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, that is expected to save the Air Force 103,118.6 MBTU and $740,000 in energy expenses per year.

Funded under the fiscal 2012 Energy Conservation Investment Program, base energy managers collaborated with the Air Force Civil Engineer Center to refit 85 base buildings with a high-efficiency, natural gas boiler.

The original central heating plant, commissioned in 1981,  provided heat to 1.8 million square feet of Warren's facilities. In the late 1990s, it became apparent  major repairs, renovation or replacement of the plant would be necessary to ensure reliable and economic heating for the base during the frigid Wyoming winters.

"The boilers in the central heating plant were operating at 83-percent measured efficiency, and it was estimated that half of the heat produced in the plant was lost in transmission to the buildings," said Paul Wise, plant decentralization project engineer. "Total energy losses in the heat plant boilers and distribution system were estimated at 50 percent."

Reliability of distribution lines was also an issue.

"The distribution lines from the central plant consisted of mains and branch lines, so a failure in a single pipe section could potentially interrupt service to 20 buildings or more," Wise said. "Elimination of the distribution system decreases vulnerability and greatly reduces the impact of a single point failure."

The plant had exceeded its design life cycle; current distribution system repairs weren't providing the anticipated life expectancy extension, and the cost to replace the entire distribution system exceeded that of new individual boilers.

"We chose ECIP to replace the heat plant," Wise said.

ECIP is a subset of the Department of Defense-wide military construction program, a program designed to fund projects that save energy or water, produce energy or generally reduce the DOD's energy costs. ECIP supports construction of new, high-efficiency energy systems and the improvement and modernization of existing ones. ECIP can fund construction projects over $750,000 and include anything that normal MILCON funds cover.

"For base-level conservation efforts that are may not be large enough for funding through a power purchase agreement or energy savings performance contract, ECIP funds can be a solution," said John Byrnes, AFCEC ECIP manager. "The process takes time, but we are careful to ensure maximum savings from these projects. We are very pleased with the Warren project."

The heat plant decentralization and individual boiler installation were completed in September 2014.  

"This is the largest ECIP project the Air Force has undertaken," Wise said. "It was an extremely large task, but through team building we were able to develop the project and get the job done."

The final step, to be done after the spring thaw, is deconstructing the old heat plant facility.