Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Electrification

Overview

This project electrifies the heating and domestic hot water service at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center (RRBITC) facility, replacing the building steam provided from the General Services Administration (GSA) Heating, Operation and Transmission Division (HOTD). This project is part of a $93 million energy savings performance contract (ESPC). The project includes a combination of heat pumps and supplemental electric boilers that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions annually by 2,242 metric tons of CO2e, which is in addition to the 13,702 metric ton reduction from the base ESPC. The base ESPC is reducing energy consumption at the RRBITC by 39.1%, and the electrification of the building will improve the building energy reduction to 47.8%. This project is also estimated to reduce annual utility expenditures by over $6 million.

Mechanical design includes Heating, Ventilating and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) engineering for the new chillers and electric boilers, along with associated pumps. Electrical engineering entails providing power to service new systems. These services include providing the required coordination study using SKM software. Plumbing engineering is designed as required for the new electric water heaters and associated tanks.

TLC Structural Engineers reviewed the building’s adequacy to support new tanks/equipment. This includes a review of pathway for new equipment to be routed into the building to ensure adequacy for heavy equipment routing.

RRBITC is the largest building in GSAs portfolio and the first building on the HOTD plant that will be converted to comply with the Building Performance Standard, and it will serve as a blueprint for future building conversions. Due to the size of this facility, removing it from the HOTD system could have a domino effect in electrification of the remaining buildings on the system.