LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
The Air Force is the largest consumer of energy in the Federal Government. On average, Langley consumes over 10 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per month and over 17 million cubic feet of natural gas.
"As most people now know the cost of energy has drastically increased," said Mr. Donald White, 1st Civil Engineer mechanical engineer. "The more (money) we spend on energy the less we have to purchase new (equipment) and maintain existing assets in order to have mission success."
Executive Order 13423 mandates that federal agencies achieve the energy efficiency goal of reducing energy use by 3 percent per year through 2015.
Air Combat Command resource efficiency managers help the Air Force and Langley meet this goal.
"Since we have been on board and have performed energy surveys on Langley, we have identified several projects that could possibly save Langley approximately $878,000 with an investment amount of $2.8 million, which will equate to about 3.2 years of payback," said Mr. John McDuffie, ACC resource efficiency manager.
Langley's Energy Proclamation charges every member of the Langley community to minimize energy and encourages all Airmen to bring forward ideas to enhance conservation efforts.
In the past 12 months Langley has initiated programs to reduce energy use. These programs include replacement of incandescent lights with compact fluorescent lights, automated building temperature setback when unoccupied, no heat/no cool periods, replacing inefficient electric motors and determining where energy use is excessive.
The base has also initiated energy assistance visits to review compliance with energy conservation policy and make recommendations for other energy conservation measures.
Although policies are in place and programs have been initiated, every Airman can play a part in energy conservation.
"Everybody can turn lights and electrical devices off when not in use," said Mr. White.
For Airmen who want to be energy efficient at home, the state of Virginia allows a four-day tax exemption from Oct. 10 though 13 on Energy Star products. Airmen can visit the
Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency Web site.
For more information on energy conservation, call Mr. Donald White at 764-1417 or Mr. John McDuffie at 764-7381. Information can also be found on the
Secretary of the Air Force Installations, Environment and Logistics Web site.