Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Historic Building to Receive Energy Efficient Upgrades

KITTERY, Maine (NNS) -- Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Mid-Atlantic awarded a contract Dec. 28 for energy improvements and repairs to the historic Building 92 structural shops at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

The $13.8 million project is projected to reduce the building's annual energy consumption by 82 percent through the use of renewable energy, efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and electrical systems, and smart metering technology.

"In an industrial facility such as Building 92 structural shops, and in a climate such as Maine, the primary energy driver is building heat," said Lee Enzastiga, NAVFAC Mid-Atlantic project manager for the Northeast Integrated Products Team. "An energy recovery system will be installed to recover heat being exhausted from the industrial process exhaust and transfer that heat to the incoming air to the building."

A new, large polycarbonate window system will replace a deteriorating window wall and also help reduce energy costs while still preserving the historic character of the building's exterior walls which cover nearly 30,000 square feet of this submarine fabrication and repair facility.

"The new window system will be a translucent curtain wall system that resembles the historic configuration of the existing window system but increases the R-value and prevents air infiltration," Enzastiga said. The higher the R-value, or the thermal resistance of a material, the better the material is at insulating, he added.

Large exterior overhead doors will be replaced or refurbished and large fans will be installed in middle and high bays to draw down the large amount of heat trapped at the high ceiling so it can be used to heat other areas in the building.

The project also incorporates several renewable energy technologies such as a solar wall that will preheat air by solar radiation, fans that will feed the preheated air into the building, and hot water coils that will supplement the solar heat. The building's automated heating system will manage the operation of the fans so they only run when it is efficient to do so, Enzastiga said.

Lastly, a new lighting management system will adjust interior lighting accordingly to maximize natural daylight use from the new window wall.

The competitively procured contract was awarded to ECC of Marlborough, Mass. Work will be performed in Kittery, Maine and is expected to be completed by October 2014.

For more news from Naval Facilities Engineering Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/navfachq/.