Energy Performance Contract (EPC) is a process whereby a company is contracted to deliver guaranteed energy services within a building; it is the smart procurement method for innovative energy projects.
EPC was a relatively unknown business model in Ireland up until last year when Codema – Dublin’s energy agency – in conjunction with the Community, Culture, Economic and Emergency Services department in DCC, facilitated the tendering of Ireland’s first local authority contract for Dublin City Council’s Ballymun, Finglas & Markievicz Leisure Centres.
The process involved familiarising everyone involved with the concept of EPC, and the many different steps involved in implementing it. Codema compiled energy surveys, maintenance records, historical energy consumption data – and a lot more besides – and drafted the procurement documents for the two-stage competitive dialogue.
When the work is completed later in 2016, the three buildings will each achieve an average energy saving of approximately 30%, resulting in an estimated total energy savings value of €190,000.
“In outsourcing work to an ESCO, the financial risk is lowered considerably for the local authorities; this compares favourably to the traditional approach where there was no guarantee that the energy upgrades would deliver the savings as promised. A major advantage with EPC is that the local authority outsources the details of the technology, along with the risk, to the supplier who cannot walk away from an unsatisfactory job: projected energy savings must be delivered, and the work can be carried out straight away with immediate benefits.” – Joe Hayden, Executive Engineer, Codema