Provided by P1 Group, Inc.


America’s leading outdoor retailer is taking on the indoors — inside its corporate headquarters, that is. Specifically, Springfield, Missouri-based Bass Pro Shops recently completed a massive physical plant overhaul at its corporate headquarters, increasing the facility’s efficiency, providing big savings and potentially qualifying the retailer for an accelerated depreciation deduction for the cost of the new equipment as allowed by the 2005 Energy Policy Act.

According to Bass Pro Shops’ Director of Facilities, Dan Hoy, the company’s multi-million dollar plant expenditure is expected to provide a huge return on its investment — both directly and indirectly. And it all began when Bass Pro Shops started questioning the efficiency of its1960s-era plant, originally designed to house electronics production for former tenant Zenith. Bass Pro Shops hired Kansas City-based P1 Group, experts in the electrical, mechanical and building services industry, to conduct a study on just how inefficient the old plant was to its operations. P1 had already been effective in helping Bass Pro Shops renovate the chiller plant at its Springfield Outdoor World retail site.

“In its day, both the facility and equipment were efficient and made to last a lifetime,” says Hoy. “However, it was high time we asked ourselves if we could improve efficiency and reduce expenditures with today’s technological gains.”

Specifically, Bass Pro Shops and P1 overhauled the plant’s chilling equipment, cooling tower, boiler and pumping plant. According to Hoy, the plant’s former tenant used the facility differently than Bass Pro Shops, which impacted Bass Pro Shops’ heating and cooling needs. For example, Zenith needed to air condition 900,000 square feet of the 40-acre building, while Bass Pro Shops needed to cool 350,000 square feet. Likewise, an outdated incinerator required three staff people to share around-the-clock duties of stoking it with old wooden pallets and other wood byproducts to generate enough steam energy to power the plant’s absorption chillers.

“This change was as much about right-sizing the equipment for our needs as it was replacing antiquated equipment,” says Hoy.

Guided by P1 Group’s study, P1 designed and installed an energy-efficient hybrid heating and cooling system. The new system leveraged modern technology and supplies, while automating the process. Additionally, it operates off both high-efficiency and standard-efficiency equipment. The automation alone, says Hoy, eliminated the inconsistencies that occur through manual operation. For example, he says, dramatic temperature swings resulted from each of the three shifts assigned to operate the incinerator. Today, the consistency of automation has helped to reduce monthly utility costs.

“Bass Pro Shops took a good, hard look at its facility operations and evaluated whether it was safe, reliable and efficient,” says P1 Group’s Rusty Roderick. “It was a smart business move and it has paid off.”

In fact, since making the change in mid-2008, Hoy says Bass Pro Shops benefited from a $64,000 utility savings for a singular month. To date, the average monthly utility savings is about $40,000.

As a side benefit, the change has reduced Bas Pro Shops’ carbon footprint as well. While Bass Pro Shops has long been known for its support of conservation efforts, the reality of having an eco-friendly system means the company is producing fewer CO2 emissions, and will have to devote less time to related EPA reporting.

Both Hoy and Roderick say the physical plant changes Bass Pro Shops has made to date was seamless, and has prompted the two to explore other areas to improve plant efficiency and reduce costs within its corporate headquarters.


About P1 Group
Since 1919, P1 Group, Inc. has created a proud tradition, outstanding reputation and proven performance record in the Electrical and Mechanical Construction and Building Service industries.