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Fairchild saves energy

  • Published
  • By Jonathan Wald
  • 92nd Civil Engineering Squadron
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  With the 92nd Air Refueling Wing temporarily relocating all fixed-wing aircraft to the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Wash., and the Spokane International Airport because of the runway replacement, the 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron identified an opportunity to save both energy and money over the next year.

"We saw the runway closure as an opportunity to help the Air Force and Fairchild reduce our utility and service contract bills over nearly a year period," said Lt. Col. Dean Hitchcock, 92nd CES commander.

Before the aircraft even left, the 92nd CES began working with the 92nd Maintenance Group and 92nd Operations Group to determine which buildings could possibly have the heat turned down, or even, turned off during the runway closure.
 
Lt. Col. Alan Hart, the 92nd Maintenance Group deputy commander and his team of experts were eager to support this idea.

"After an initial meeting and a flurry of follow-up emails, we began strategizing how to implement this idea" said Mr. Jeff Cook-Coyle, 92nd CES resource efficiency manager.

Jointly, the 92nd MXG and 92nd CES concluded that the heat could be turned off entirely in three hangars and turned down in four others. Altogether, this effort will save the base approximately $100,000 on its heating bills for 2011. This is a savings of 5 percent on the total heating bill for the base. The 92nd CES is also working with hangar facility managers to make sure that other conservation efforts are considered, such as turning off the lights when hangars are not in use.

"Why leave the lights on when no one is home?" asked Mr. Bill Turner, base energy manager. 

The idea of saving money on utility bills during the runway closure prompted other 92nd CES personnel to question the need for refuse services to hangars as well. Of the seven hangars that were targeted for energy conservation, three of those also currently receive refuse pick up service. In total, four hangars were targeted to temporarily stop refuse service, which will save additional taxpayer dollars by reducing garbage collection and other services to the hangars during the runway closure.

Every dollar saved on energy bills and garbage collection can be used for other sources. Base personnel can support these efforts by reporting high temperatures in their working space to their facility managers. They will work with the 92nd CES customer service to make work space more comfortable, and to save our money across-the-board.