Primary Department: County Engineer
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Milton Rahman, PhD, P.E., PMP, CFM, ENV SP, County Engineer
Secondary Department: Sheriff
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: ED Gonzales
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Discussion Item
Project ID (if applicable): 701 San Jacinto Maintenance Projects
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Aramark
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
title
Request for discussion and possible action for approval to issue a purchase order in an amount not to exceed $343,204.21 to Aramark Facility Services for the LED lighting retrofit of the 7th floor at 701 N San Jacinto (Harris County Detention Facility) under the existing Aramark facilities management contract, with a procurement deadline of the week of May 18, 2026.
end
Background and Discussion:
The 7th floor of 701 N San Jacinto currently operates 1,163 fluorescent light fixtures on a continuous 24/7 fixed-output schedule. These fixtures consume energy at a sustained rate with no dimming controls, contributing materially to the facility's annual electricity cost of $824,818.57 (actual TXU Energy billing, March 2025 through February 2026).
An LED lighting upgrade was first considered in October 2025, when Aramark submitted a full fixture replacement proposal at $1,184,790. That proposal was placed on hold for higher priority projects. In March 2026, Aramark submitted an alternative approach: an LED retrofit that installs new LED kits and bulbs into existing fixture housings in lieu of full fixture replacement. The firm-price retrofit quote of $343,204.21 (dated March 18, 2026).
A financial analysis was prepared in April 2026 to support this Court request. All projections use a 35% LED energy savings rate, a moderate conservative figure, applied because the detention facility environment operates on 24/7 fixed-output lighting without dimming controls, which impacts achievable savings relative to the U.S. Department of Energy benchmark midpoint of 40%. A 3% annual energy cost escalation rate was applied to all multi-year projections.
Options Considered:
Four options were evaluated for Commissioners Court consideration:
|
Option |
Capital Cost |
Payback |
10-Yr Net Return |
Notes |
|
Full Fixture Replacement (Oct 2025) |
$1,184,790 |
N/A |
N/A |
On hold |
|
LED Retrofit - 7th Floor Only |
$343,204 |
8.3 yrs |
$129,577 |
Firm quote 3/18/26 |
|
LED Retrofit - Full Facility (Long-Range) |
$2,700,000* |
9.4 yrs |
$609,467 |
Projected; per-floor quotes required |
|
No Action / Status Quo |
$0 capital |
N/A |
($824,819)/yr ongoing energy cost |
Energy & maintenance costs continue at current rate |
* Full facility cost of $2,700,000 is a projection based on the 7th-floor per-floor rate applied to all 7 floors with slight adjustment for condition variability. Individual floor quotes are required before phased commitments are made.
Expected Impact:
If authorized, the following financial and operational outcomes are anticipated for the 7th-floor LED retrofit:
• Capital investment: $343,204.21 (firm Aramark quote, March 18, 2026)
• Estimated Year 1 energy savings: $41,241 (35% savings applied to pro-rated 1/7 facility energy share of $117,831/yr)
• Simple payback period: 8.3 years
• Estimated break-even year: Year 8
• 10-year cumulative energy savings: $472,781 (with 3% annual escalation)
• 10-year net return: $129,577
• 10-year ROI: 37.8%
Operational benefits include reduction of recurring lamp and ballast maintenance costs associated with fluorescent fixtures.
Alternative Options:
Three alternatives to the proposed 7th-floor LED retrofit were considered:
• Full Fixture Replacement (Original Proposal, Oct 2025): Quoted at $1,184,790 by Aramark. Placed on hold in lieu of higher priority maintenance projects on the 7th floor.
• Full Facility LED Retrofit (Long-Range Option): Estimated at $2,700,000 for all 7 floors. This option requires individual floor quotes and separate procurement action.
• No Action / Status Quo
County Strategic Plan Goal: 1. Make Harris County safer and more just.
County Strategic Plan Objective: C: Improve safety and health conditions in the jail.
Justice/Safety Initiative (Goal 1): C1: Support the Jail and Community Safety Infrastructure Governance Advisory Committee’s and Resident Advisory Committee’s efforts to increase non-carceral options and improve safety, security, and other conditions in jail facilities.
Infrastructure Initiative (Goal 2): Choose an item.
Economy Initiative (Goal 3): Choose an item.
Health Initiative (Goal 4): Choose an item.
Climate/Resilience Initiative (Goal 5): Choose an item.
Housing Initiative (Goal 6): Choose an item.
Additional notes related to the Strategic Plan:
Prior Court Action (if any):
|
Date |
Agenda Item # |
Action Taken |
|
2/12/2026 |
5(26-1037) |
Request for approval of a Preliminary Investment Memo for the Jail Infrastructure Planning and Governance project, for an initial amount of $1,253,180 and request for approval of initial commercial paper funding in the amount of $1,255,000. |
Location:
Address (if applicable):
Precinct(s): Choose an item.
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Fiscal and Personnel Summary |
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Service Name |
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Current Fiscal Year Cost |
Annual Fiscal Cost |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
Recurring Expenses |
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Funding Sources |
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Existing Budget |
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Other CP |
$ |
$343,204.21 |
$343,204.21 |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Existing Budget |
$ |
$343,204.21 |
$343,204.01 |
$ |
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Additional Budget Request (Requires Fiscal Review Request Form) |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Additional Budget Request |
$ |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Total Funding Sources |
$ |
$343,204.21 |
$343,204.21 |
$ |
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Grants - Proposed Budget (For Grants Items only) |
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Labor |
Non-Labor |
Total |
No. of Grant Years |
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Local Match Source - Existing Budget: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Local Match Source - Additional Budget Request: Choose an item. |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Grant Funds Applied for/Awarded (Total) |
$ |
$ |
$ |
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Personnel (Fill out section only if requesting new Position Control Numbers (PCN)s) |
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Current Position Count for Service |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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Additional Positions Request |
- |
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- |
- |
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Total Personnel |
- |
- |
- |
- |
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County Attorney’s Office Legal Review (for Harris County Code Items only) |
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CAO Reviewer Name and Title |
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CAO Review Completion Date |
Click or tap to enter a date. |
Anticipated Court Date: 5/14/2026
Anticipated Implementation Date (if different from Court date): 5/15/2026
Emergency/Disaster Recovery Note: Not an emergency, disaster, or COVID-19 related item
Contact(s) name, title, department: Samuel, Pena: Chief, Infrastructure Services, and Disaster Recovery
Attachments (if applicable):