In today’s fiscal climate, many colleges and universities are facing shrinking capital, federal funding limitations, and tight operating and maintenance (O&M) budgets while facility needs continue to grow. Aging equipment, rising utility costs, and mounting deferred maintenance strain operations teams, yet capital funding for infrastructure upgrades is often unavailable or allocated to competing priorities.

That’s where Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) comes in. Through ESPCs, higher education institutions can partner with Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) to implement essential upgrades, such as HVAC systems, lighting, and building automation, without incurring upfront capital costs. Instead, projects are paid for over time using the guaranteed energy and operational savings they produce.

For facilities leaders, this means critical improvements can move forward now—not years from now—while simultaneously reducing maintenance burdens, improving reliability, and extending the useful life of building systems.

This session will explore how ESPCs offer a lifeline for higher education campuses looking to modernize facilities, reduce costs, and maintain performance when capital dollars are limited.