SERVICES
Correctional facilities cost taxpayers an estimated $63.4 billion a year. One study showed that the average prison spends $36,000 per month on energy. Prisons have historically been built with security in mind without much thought put into efficient lighting, efficient water use and controls, heating, or cooling. But that’s starting to change.
Our goal is to significantly reduce energy and operating costs. We take a comprehensive, whole-building (interior and exterior) approach to support the energy-efficiency needs of a broad range of correctional buildings and facilities. In each case, we take advantage of opportunities to improve the performance of diverse applications and system components and the way those components are controlled and maintained.
In particular, our team does the following:
- Designs and builds systems that reduce energy, water consumption, and costs.
- Improves the efficiency of lighting, water, and building envelope performance.
- Improves the safety and security of correctional officers, employees, visitors, and inmates
- Works flexible shifts and wears easily identifiable company uniforms and badges.
- Provides enhanced resilience, replaces aging infrastructure, and mitigates high-priority energy resilience gaps.
- Completes flexible, professional design-build efforts with minimal disruption to occupants.
LIGHTING
Our lighting solutions enable correctional facilities to control internal and external environments in order to improve staff productivity, improve interior and exterior safety and security, and lower energy and maintenance costs.
We incorporate LED technology for individual offices and entire buildings and facilities. We develop everything from a lower cost, simplified approach to high-value smart building designs that integrate building automation in order to provide the information needed to make informed decisions. Beyond interior lighting, we also design and build exterior lighting systems.
We perform lighting audits of correctional facilities, including exterior walkways, courtyards, parking lots, and attached fixtures (taking into account added requirements associated with designing around vandal-resistant fixtures to provide a safer environment for inmates and guards). For correctional facilities that have manufacturing plants in them, we can enhance lighting to improve work conditions and safety. We evaluate variables such as how space will be used, the load potential, initial cost, and cost to maintain moving forward.
Comprehensive project management and execution involve scheduling, auditing, job site management, and close-out documentation.
Water Efficiency
Advanced water efficiency solutions improve the resiliency of correctional facilities by helping to ensure a constant water supply, as well as provide ROI-driven results for correctional facilities. We identify, design, and build water, sewer, and energy-efficiency solutions unique to each correctional facility to provide substantial infrastructure improvements, reduce water and energy use, and save money, as well as identify hidden or unknown water use to improve water efficiency outside each facility.
We’re a certified installer for all major automated water control systems for prison applications. Our solutions range from domestic plumbing applications to HVAC equipment (condensers and cooling tower optimization) to xeriscaping, irrigation, and other landscaping solutions. We also design and build water purification, water leak detection, low-water harvesting, stormwater management, and smart irrigation systems, including design and installation of controllers that analyze weather patterns and soil vapor transpiration. Significant water saving measures may involve capturing groundwater and then filtering and treating it for cooling tower makeup, as well as installing rainwater collection systems.
Domestic water conservation measures may include installing contraband-resistant plumbing systems, stainless steel fixtures, higher efficiency flushometer toilets and urinals, low-flow faucet and shower restrictors, low-flow consumption flush toilets and sinks, water-efficient showerheads, shower timing systems, and commercial kitchen and laundry equipment upgrades.
Building Envelope
While most correctional facilities are well built, older prisons may have opportunities to identify building leaks that could be sealed to save on HVAC load. We blend security solutions with building envelope solutions to protect the people who work in correctional facilities and the guests who visit.
A thorough site audit can reveal weaknesses in the building envelope, pinpoint locations of air loss and energy leaks and inadequate insulation, and identify other structural faults that can decrease energy efficiency. The audit can cover visual inspections of foundations, rooms, basements, attics, doors, and windows. It may also include surface thermographic imaging to identify areas of heat loss or gain, infiltrometer tests to locate air leaks that need to be sealed, and visual inspection for signs of infiltration of exfiltration such as cobwebs.
Our expertise includes the following:
- Building envelope performance audits
- Air barrier penetration sealing
- Weather stripping and caulking
- Insulation and spray foams
- Window solutions, including security improvement safety films
- Daylighting technologies
- Solar shade solutions
- Cool roof technologies
- Destratification solutions
- Pipe insulation
- Turnkey installation
ASSET SOLUTIONS THAT MAKE GOOD BUSINESS SENSE
Learn how our water, lighting, building envelope, and metering solutions can optimize your asset
Case Studies
Discover how some of our clients make the most of their energy and resources for efficiency & sustainability.
Case Studies
Discover how some of our clients make the most of their energy and resources for efficiency & sustainability.