Federal Agencies Cut Energy Costs
The White House honored five energy management teams from the U.S. Departments of Energy, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior, Justice, and the Environmental Protection Agency for their dedication and leadership in the prudent management of energy use in their facilities and operations.
These teams, which included 51 federal employees and contractors, are responsible for estimated annual savings in excess of $133 million and almost 4.6 trillion Btus, equivalent to the energy use of approximately 50,000 homes.
The five winning teams of the 2007 Presidential Awards for Leadership in Federal Energy Management received recognition for the following achievements:
U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force Energy Management Senior Focus Group
By providing top level leadership to the Air Force’s Facility and Mobility Energy Programs, the Air Force Energy Strategy Senior Focus Group instituted a culture where energy usage and sustainable practices are considered in every decision. Its comprehensive approach to energy management saved the Air Force $100 million and more than 3.3 trillion Btus in Fiscal Year (FY) 2006—enough savings to power the household energy needs of a city such as Boulder, Colorado for a year. Also in FY 2006, the Air Force remained the largest green power purchaser in the federal government with more than 990 gigawatt hours of renewable-generated electricity.
U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency, Laboratories for the 21st Century
Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21) is a voluntary partnership dedicated to improving the energy and environmental performance of laboratories, which are five to ten times more energy intensive than office buildings. Labs21 public-private partnerships are comprised of approximately 80 facilities—more than half of which are federal. With the help of Labs21, 18 active partners reduced their combined annual energy use by 533 billion Btus, equivalent to the average annual electricity use of more than 14,500 typical U.S. households. The partners also avoided emissions of nearly 218 million pounds of carbon dioxide—the equivalent of removing nearly 21,000 cars from the road.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Energy Management Committee
Under the leadership of its Energy Management Committee, DHS institutionalized stewardship of energy resources and taxpayer dollars into its standard practices and procedures for nine major components. The EMC published a comprehensive Master Energy Plan 2006-2015, which established specific direction and goals for the Department’s facility energy management activities and tracks the performance of DHS component agencies by measuring five major factors quarterly. The strategies and guidelines instituted by DHS resulted in an 18% decrease in energy intensity in 2006 from 2003 levels.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management Energy Efficiency Team
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management comprises numerous small facilities with individually low dollar values of energy consumption scattered in remote areas of the country. BLM, in partnership with the Department of Energy and Johnson Controls, Inc., created an innovative new approach to streamline and tailor the Energy Savings Performance Contracts process to meet its needs—one that can be applied by other federal agencies with small, remote facilities. As a result, 105 sites are receiving $4.9 million of energy efficiency improvements with guaranteed annual savings of nearly $400,000 and annual energy savings of 20 billion Btus, the energy equivalent of 285 typical households in the region.
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Federal Bureau of Prisons
The Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons initiated an energy outreach program where energy program staff collaborates with community leaders and businesses to spread knowledge about federal efforts in energy conservation, renewable energy, and sustainable practices. At the Federal Correctional Complex in Victorville, CA, the Bureau of Prisons invested $3.5 million to install DOJ’s first wind turbine and photovoltaic array, saving $350,000 in annual energy costs and almost 1.9 million kilowatt hours annually. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is replicating this success with Energy Savings Performance Contracts and Utility Energy Service Contracting, with plans to cover 98 remaining institutions within six years. For more information, see energy.gov/news/5679.htm
Further, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is undertaking two major renewable power projects at the Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). NREL’s new Research Support Facility promises to be one of the most “green” buildings ever constructed; the new Renewable Fuel Heating Plant will use biomass to cut NREL’s future natural gas use by 75%; and the Mesa Top PV Project – a new five-acre photovoltaic array, and one of the largest solar power systems in Colorado – will help power the lab’s main campus.
These projects underscore NREL’s role in advancing DOE’s Transformational Energy Action Management (TEAM) Initiative, a Department-wide effort to maximize energy efficiency and renewable energy generation across the DOE complex.
NREL’s 210,000 sq.ft. Research Support Facility is designed to be a model for sustainable, high-performance design, and will provide DOE-owned work space for administrative staff who currently occupy leased space. It will make substantial use of daylighting, dramatically reducing energy use and providing a pleasant and productive working environment. The RSF has been designed to achieve a LEED® Platinum designation—the highest benchmark awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council.
NREL’s Renewable Fuel Heating Plant will provide heat to the RSF and other research buildings on the Laboratory’s South Table Mountain campus by using biomass such as wood chips from forest thinning along Colorado’s Front Range. This plant will be constructed adjacent to the existing Field Test Laboratory Building, and operate in conjunction with an existing natural gas-fueled boiler system. It is expected to be completed in May 2008. The Renewable Fuels Heating Plant will use an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) with a third party provider, Ameresco Energy Services Co. Under the ESPC, Ameresco will pay for construction of the project and be repaid with NREL’s energy cost savings.
The Mesa Top PV Project will be located near the NREL Solar Radiation Research Laboratory, and will produce an estimated 750kW of clean, renewable electric power from solar energy that will be used on site. This five-acre span of solar panels is expected to be completed in May 2008; the installation could provide up to seven percent of the electricity NREL uses. This project uses several agreements involving DOE’s Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) and Golden Field Office, SunEdison, and Xcel Energy. Under these agreements, SunEdison will develop the solar energy system, and in turn, receive federal tax credits, along with revenues from both the sale of electricity to DOE and Xcel Energy's purchase of the Renewable Energy Credits associated with the generation. DOE will purchase that power on behalf of NREL at a price equal to what it currently pays for electricity from Xcel Energy. For more information, see www.nrel.gov/news/press/2007/534.html
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