JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
October marks Energy Action Month, which promotes energy and water conservation awareness, led by the Department of Energy.
This year's theme is "Transition to a Clean Energy Reality." Federal government employees play a major role as the nation shifts toward clean energy; they have the power to make the transition a reality, while meeting critical mission goals.
"Energy Action Month is a dedicated month for the U.S. Department of Defense to educate and encourage U.S. Service members and civilian employees on installations to reduce energy consumption," said Peter Phan, 733rd Civil Engineering Division electrical engineer. "We're going to provide information throughout the month on ways the Joint Base Langley-Eustis community can conserve energy at their work stations, as well as at home."
One of the ways the 733rd CED and 633rd Civil Engineering Squadron will cut energy is to send out mock electric bills to the ten buildings on the installations which use the most energy.
"There were a lot of factors that went into determining which buildings use the most energy," said Phan. "Some of them require 24-hour operations so we understand their usage may be higher, but we still want to show them how much they are using so they can adjust where they may be able to conserve."
Energy efficiency behaviors reduce operating costs, according to Don White, 633rd CES base energy and utility manager.
"Every dollar not spent on energy can be retained for other mission requirements," said White. "We have to make energy a consideration in everything we do. Smart energy use helps us fly farther, reduce logistics tail and do more with less."
According to the Energy Security Act of 2007, the DoD is obligated to reduce energy consumption between fiscal year 2006 and 2015 by three percent each year relative to use in 2003. Also, the DoD must reduce potable water consumption by two percent each year, through 2020, relative to 2007.
"We have had a bunch of projects over the past ten years to try to meet that mandate and we're pretty close," said Phan. 'But we're not going to stop there; we're going to continue to drive it down."
Projects at Joint Base Langley-Eustis to conserve energy include replacing chillers and boilers, changing out light bulbs to more energy efficient ones, installing energy management control systems and occupancy-sensors for lighting, and many more.
Training will be hosted Oct. 7 at Fort Eustis to allow facility managers to learn more about what they can do to drive energy consumption down. Although the training is not mandatory, any employees interested in getting tips on ways to save energy can contact Phan to attend.
"We spend approximately $15 million annually on utilities on each installation," said Phan. "At this training, we'll cover energy saving tips at work and home such as turning off computer monitors and printers at the end of each day, and turning water off when people brush their teeth."
Energy is a critical component of all U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army operations and together Service members and civilians can lead the charge to conserve energy and reduce costs across the DoD.