Honeywell announced a modernization project with Fort Benning, a U.S. Army post located on the border of Alabama and Georgia. Fort Benning is host to more than 100,000 U.S. Army members, trainees, dependents, retirees and federal civilian employees.

The $19 million project involves facility upgrades, including installation of a utility monitoring and control system (UMCS), advanced lighting controls and occupancy sensors, as well as building envelope modifications to help reduce overall energy use while aiming to improve energy resilience. The Department of Defense defines energy resilience as the ability to prepare for and recover from energy disruptions that impact mission assurance on military installations. These improvements are expected to reduce energy usage by about 23% and generate approximately $1.3 million in annual savings for the buildings included in this project.

The project will be funded by a 25-year fence-to-fence energy services performance contact (ESPC) awarded to Honeywell by Fort Benning, with the added intention that the project will assist Fort Benning with their Installation of the Future (IOTF) roadmap for potential adoption by other U.S. Army installations. The goal of this initiative is to create installations that better support readiness, are more resilient to disruptions and are increasingly sustainable.

The contract enables the funding of the upgrades with annual energy and operational savings resulting from the project work. Honeywell guarantees the savings, eliminating the need for upfront capital investment and making it a self-funding project over the contract term.

"We are excited about this ESPC and the energy savings that it will enable through various facility upgrades, while laying the foundation for our Installations of the Future initiative," said former Deputy Garrison Commander George W. Steuber, U.S. Army Garrison Fort Benning. "As a result of project upgrades, staff will be able to improve operations by better predicting and anticipating expenditures related to maintenance and equipment. This is a big milestone for Fort Benning and the U.S. Army in our journey to achieving greater operational efficiency."

The first phase of the project includes 228 buildings, nearly 6 million square feet of Fort Benning's total of 26 million square feet of floorage. The modernization aims to connect as many of the post's facilities together as possible to reduce energy intensity. The work includes LED lighting and lighting control installation as well as building envelope improvements, such as windows and insulation.

Also as part of the contract, Honeywell will upgrade the current Niagara AX UMCS platform to the Niagara N4 – a platform offered by Tridium. This system will allow Fort Benning to more effectively and efficiently collect data to make faster, better-informed decisions based on real and timely information, a critical step toward building a more secure and resilient group of facilities.

"The upgrades and improvements we're implementing at Fort Benning will not only help reduce operational costs and energy consumption, but also will help improve the operational reliability and overall quality of life for Fort Benning's brave service men and women," said Wayne Kent, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Building Solutions, Americas. "The upgraded solutions and controls aim to help the post better manage utility systems by providing real-time or near real-time information for conserving resources, enabling staff to better identify additional cost-saving opportunities."

The project is expected to reduce Fort Benning's total annual electric and natural gas energy consumption by approximately 6%. Honeywell and Fort Benning expect to complete the first phase of the project in September 2020.

Honeywell has successfully executed similar projects at a variety of Department of Defense sites, including Kunsan Air Base, Tinker Air Force Base, Letterkenny Army Depot, Tobyhanna Army Depot and Rock Island Arsenal, among other sites.