Industries
Mechanical Construction for Federal, Military, and Institutional Facilities
Featured Client Projects
Government
Government
Government
Government
Government
Government
Government
Energy performance contracting, boilers, hot water
Design-build energy retrofit at the 2.5M SF Harry S. Truman Building — nine condensing boilers and 15,000 feet of pipe replacing legacy steam infrastructure across five mechanical rooms in a single summer window.
scope
PIPE
boilers
Government
Historic renovation, HVAC modernization
floors
location
Government
Design-build mechanical, BSL3 exhaust
Government
Research facility mechanical systems
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region
sector
Government
Historic renovation, temporary heating, drainage
buildings
designation
location
Government
Headquarters mechanical construction
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type
location
Introduction
Government work carries its own set of demands. Security requirements shape site access and crew credentialing. Historic designations introduce preservation constraints that require daily problem-solving. Occupied federal facilities cannot simply be shut down for construction. And the institutional clients who manage these buildings — facilities directors, project managers, contracting officers — expect the same accountability and professionalism that any government contractor must demonstrate, with the added expectation that the work will be done right the first time.
Heffron has been meeting that standard in this region for a very long time.
What We Do
System replacements and upgrades inside occupied federal buildings, phased around continuous operations.
Mechanical construction on active military installations under strict security and site protocols.
Guaranteed-savings energy projects delivered under federal ESPC frameworks.
New and expanded central plants that serve entire campuses and complexes.
Modern mechanical systems fit carefully into protected historic structures.
Temporary heating, cooling, and utilities that keep facilities running mid-renovation.
Steam, chilled water, and condensate distribution routed beneath active campuses.
Round-the-clock service and emergency response for federal and institutional clients.
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How We Work
Government projects at Heffron range from large-scale energy performance contracts spanning multiple facilities to targeted renovations inside historically designated buildings where every decision has to be justified against preservation standards. The common thread is the same operational discipline and accountability the firm brings to every sector.
Government construction requires a particular kind of organizational rigor. Security clearances, credentialing requirements, strict documentation standards, and the oversight that comes with public accountability are part of the environment — not obstacles to it. Heffron’s team has been navigating these requirements across federal projects for decades.
On energy performance contracts, Heffron brings both the mechanical expertise to execute equipment replacements and the project management discipline to deliver the energy savings that justify the investment. On historic renovations, the team treats the preservation constraints as design parameters, not complications — finding solutions that meet modern performance requirements without compromising the character of the building.
Where government projects often present their greatest challenge — occupancy — Heffron’s experience in active healthcare, research, and institutional environments applies directly. Federal buildings are in continuous use. Work happens around them, not instead of them.
Heffron was engaged for the preliminary mechanical scope of the Federal Reserve Board’s comprehensive renovation across two of its historic Washington, D.C. buildings — 1951 Constitution Avenue and the Mariner S. Eccles Building. The work included installation of temporary heating systems, domestic water distribution infrastructure, and storm drainage systems to maintain building integrity throughout the construction period. Two vertical in-line hot water pumps were integrated with existing boiler systems to provide temporary heating across the full construction phase.
Both buildings carry historic designations, and the exterior groundwork required daily problem-solving as unexpected conditions emerged. Coordination across multiple trade contractors on a constrained urban site added further complexity. Heffron maintained project momentum and client support throughout.
General Contractor: Gilbane / Balfour Beatty · Engineer: Vanderweil · Architect: CRTKL / Quinn Evans
Across four Veterans Administration medical facilities in downtown Baltimore, Heffron worked alongside Ameresco — an energy services organization — to replace aging chiller systems that had exceeded 30 years of service and were generating unsustainable energy costs. The critical constraint: every chiller was located in a penthouse, and all four hospitals had to remain fully operational throughout the replacement program.
Heffron engineered a sequenced approach, using precision valve placement to reroute chilled water distribution and enable staged chiller replacement without interrupting cooling to occupied floors below. Spatial constraints in the penthouses required chillers to be assembled incrementally on-site rather than lifted in as completed units. The result was four hospitals with modernized, energy-efficient chiller infrastructure — and no disruption to patient care during construction.
Client: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs · Energy Services Partner: Ameresco
Heffron was the mechanical partner to Pepco Energy Services on a design-build energy retrofit at the Harry S. Truman Building — the 2.5 million SF Washington, D.C. headquarters of the U.S. Department of State — scoped to dramatically reduce GSA steam consumption across the facility.
More than forty Heffron pipefitters, welders, and plumbers installed 15,000 feet of pipe alongside the rest of the team. Nine new 6 MBH gas-fired condensing boilers, eight high-efficiency hot water heaters, and three 75-hp VFD pumps replaced legacy steam infrastructure across five mechanical rooms — every system commissioned in a single summer cooling window, ahead of the winter heating season.
MEP Engineer: MIN Engineering, Inc. · Heffron self-performed in coordination with Pepco Energy Services, the State Department Facility Management Team, the Facility Security Detail, and the Building Operations and Maintenance Contractor.
For more than forty years, Heffron has worked inside the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Washington, D.C. — directly across from the White House — delivering renovations and mechanical modernization inside one of the city’s most visible historic addresses.
Across that long relationship, Heffron has renovated all six floors, installed new HVAC systems, and supported the owner with the planning and management coordination required to keep the building operating through repeated phases of work.
Owner: United States Chamber of Commerce · Heffron Project Managers: George and Colin Dunn
Heffron delivered the design-build mechanical scope for the Hazardous Material Response Facility (HMRF) on the Pentagon Reservation, partnering with The Christman Company and the Department of Defense on a LEED Silver home for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.
Working with Atlanta-based MEP engineer Newcomb & Boyd, Heffron sized HVAC to LEED targets and installed a custom Ingenia rooftop unit with M98 bag-in / bag-out filtration for the BSL3 lab exhaust, plus a custom Daikin McQuay rooftop unit serving the office areas. Adjacency to Reagan National Airport capped crane work at 110 vertical feet — every rigging move was coordinated with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
Owner: U.S. Department of Defense · MEP Engineer: Newcomb & Boyd · GC: The Christman Company · Heffron PM: Tom Sullivan
Client Roster
Why Heffron
Government facilities managers work within systems that do not forgive poor contractor performance. Bonding requirements, security protocols, documentation standards, and public accountability create an environment where reliability is not optional — it is the baseline.
Heffron’s financial strength and bonding capacity — individual project capacity of at least $175 million, aggregate capacity of at least $250 million through Chubb — means the firm can take on the scale of work that significant government contracts require. The relationships with federal agencies that have been built over decades reflect a consistent record of delivery that public sector clients can document, justify, and rely on.
For government construction, energy performance contracting, or service inquiries
