Federal Contracting Officers (COs) and Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) play critical roles in the execution and oversight of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs). Unlike traditional acquisitions, these contracts require specialized knowledge of energy performance-based contracting, energy project financing, and long-term contract administration. This workshop is designed to equip COs and CORs, as well as other key stakeholders (e.g., energy managers, project facilitators, and ESCOs) with the expertise needed to successfully manage ESPCs and UESCs from project initiation to contract closeout. Through interactive discussions, case studies, and scenario-based exercises, participants will gain practical insights to confidently develop and evaluate cost-effective projects, execute task orders that minimize risk to the government and comply with federal laws, and ensure long-term project savings and success. Day 1 will start with an overview of foundational topics such as authorizing legislation, legal requirements, and key differences between traditional acquisitions and performance contracts, before moving into a discussion of pre-award activities and project scenarios. Day 2 will focus on post-award responsibilities and scenarios, from installation through the performance period and project closeout.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Understand key differences between traditional acquisitions and energy performance contracting;
• Identify unique responsibilities and specialized knowledge needed to successfully execute ESPCs and UESCs;
• Navigate scenarios encountered during pre-award project development and discuss strategies for evaluating potential solutions;
• Learn how to leverage FEMP resources and support to streamline contracting tasks. 

This session will provide an overview of fiscal year 2024 Federal Government progress on key statutory requirements to reduce energy and water use intensity in Federal buildings (42 U.S. Code §8253(a)), use electricity from renewable sources (42 U.S. Code §15852), invest in cost-effective efficiency measures in Federal buildings (42 U.S. Code §8253(f)), and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (42 U.S.C. §17143).

Learning Objectives:

• Key requirements for Federal agencies under law for energy and water management;
• FY 2024 progress made by the Federal Government and agencies on key statutory goals;
• Trends in Federal energy consumption by end-use sector and energy type over the last 50 years;
• Federal energy use trends over the last 20 years compared to national end-use sector trends;
• Role of cogeneration and on-site renewable generation in meeting energy use intensity goals;
• What sources of energy are considered renewable under the law;
• Approach for facility energy/water management required under Section 432 of EISA (42 USC 8253(f));
• Impact of facility energy efficiency investment over the years and realized returns;
• Scopes and categories of Federal greenhouse gas emissions and trends since 2008.

REopt® is a publicly available web tool to help federal agencies identify the most cost-effective on-site energy technology mix, sizing, and operations to achieve federal cost savings and resilience goals. This workshop will start with an overview of RE opts capabilities and then focus on hands-on exercises for attendees covering the basics for new users and introducing new and advanced capabilities for experienced users. Participants should expect to leave the workshop armed with knowledge, resources, and confidence to use RE opt effectively in service of site and agency objectives. 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Describe RE opts capabilities;
• Identify how to use the RE opt Web tool to evaluate distributed energy resources for cost savings and resilience;
• Recognize how to interpret RE opt results;
• Identify additional resources to continue to learn about and use RE opt, including direct support from FEMP and NREL.

Federal Contracting Officers (COs) and Contracting Officer Representatives (CORs) play critical roles in the execution and oversight of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs). Unlike traditional acquisitions, these contracts require specialized knowledge of energy performance-based contracting, energy project financing, and long-term contract administration. This workshop is designed to equip COs and CORs, as well as other key stakeholders (e.g., energy managers, project facilitators, and ESCOs) with the expertise needed to successfully manage ESPCs and UESCs from project initiation to contract closeout. Through interactive discussions, case studies, and scenario-based exercises, participants will gain practical insights to confidently develop and evaluate cost-effective projects, execute task orders that minimize risk to the government and comply with federal laws, and ensure long-term project savings and success. Day 1 will start with an overview of foundational topics such as authorizing legislation, legal requirements, and key differences between traditional acquisitions and performance contracts, before moving into a discussion of pre-award activities and project scenarios.  Day 2 will focus on post-award responsibilities and scenarios, from installation through the performance period and project closeout.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Understand key differences between traditional acquisitions and energy performance contracting;
• Identify unique responsibilities and specialized knowledge needed to successfully execute ESPCs and UESCs;
• Navigate scenarios encountered during post-award project implementation and performance and discuss strategies for evaluating potential solutions;
• Learn how to leverage FEMP resources and support to streamline contracting tasks. 

This webinar will serve as a workshop to understand the role of mitigation planning for mission resilience readiness exercises. It is also intended to increase awareness of general infrastructure resilience to manage unexpected real-world power outages.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Identify how to conduct a self-assessment of awareness into your backup power system and contingency plans;
• Recognize the fundamental safety drivers that will required mitigations;
• Identify actionable next steps on how to improve resilience. Depending on the starting level of awareness this may include a list of questions that you need to answer to better understand systems, or a plan of which systems will require mitigations and what those mitigations should be to safely manage a planned or unplanned power outage.

Understanding the core concepts of resilience is a great first step, but how you can identify, customize, fund, and implement resilience solutions at your federal site? This intermediate level training will walk attendees through an interactive exercise to address already identified risk drivers at a notional federal site with potential resilience solutions. Attendees will learn how to customize best practices into actionable resilience solutions to meet the specific needs of the example site, match resilience solutions with different funding mechanisms, and start improving their overall resilience posture.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Recognize the specific resilience needs of a federal site;
• Identify how to develop integrated, customized resilience solutions;
• Identify funding sources for resilience projects.

This training will provide an overview of re-tuning principles and introduce the audience to the Building Re-Tuning Simulator (BRS), which is a free, easy to use, online tool that helps identify low-cost and no-cost re-tuning measures. Re-tuning is a systematic process aimed at minimizing building energy consumption at no-cost or low-cost by identifying and correcting operational problems that plague buildings. Re-tuning relies on building automation system data to identify and implement control measures that ultimately improve the building’s energy efficiency, reduce operating costs, and improve occupant comfort. The tool is available at https://retuning-simulator.pnnl.gov/

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Recognize what re-tuning is;
• Understand the four basic principles of re-tuning;
• Recognize the benefits of using the BRS to save energy and cost.

This training provides an introductory overview of how to do energy performance contracting for small projects specifically, but can apply to any projects seeking an expedited path. Students will interact with instructors who are experts in contracting and the technical aspects of project development. The training consists of an overview of the history of the ENABLE program, and potential alternative performance contracting pathways to consider for small projects and expedited projects now that the ENABLE program is no longer available.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Explore the available performance contracting vehicles that agencies can utilize to achieve energy and cost savings at their federal agencies with a focus on small and/or expedited project applications;
• Understand how to utilize the FEMP Contracting Vehicle decision tree to determine the best option for future agency project;
• Describe processes to implement ENABLE like projects using DOEs ESPC Direct-to-IGA process;
• Provide ESCO perspective and lesson learned on past ESPC ENABLE projects;
• Discuss the resources and services available that this streamlined path would provide to agencies.

Federal facilities face increasing pressure to reduce utility costs, improve energy efficiency, and comply with legislative mandates while navigating complex procurement processes and budget constraints. This workshop will help agencies take full advantage of utility programs and incentives aligned with federal energy priorities. Participants will explore cost-saving opportunities such as demand response, time-of-use pricing, energy efficiency incentives, off-site energy tariffs, and Utility Energy Service Contracts (UESCs). In addition, FEMP experts and utility representatives will present case studies and discuss underutilized services provided by utilities under GSA Areawide Contracts that can help facilities upgrade and harden infrastructure to enhance resilience. 

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will be able to:

• Identify key federal policies and priorities that are driving federal energy procurement decisions;
• Identify utility programs that can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and enhance resilience;
• Recognize how to engage with utilities to maximize available incentives, funding, and procurement pathways;
• Recognize how to use the FEMP webtool, the Utility Program Navigator, to easily search find utility programs and incentives that are most relevant for federal customers.