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Fairchild makes additional energy conservation efforts

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Larry W. Carpenter Jr.
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Fairchild is continuing its battle against increasing energy prices by establishing more energy-conserving methods of getting the mission done.

In a 2006 letter to Airmen, Honorable Michael W. Wynne, Secretary of the Air Force, asked every Airman to make energy use a priority and bring forth ideas on how we can be more efficient in its use.

"Your efforts in making energy conservation a part of your day-to-day activities will benefit our entire Air Force, and free up precious dollars for other critical programs," said Secretary Wynne.

With that in mind, Fairchild continues to take different steps to use energy more efficiently. The 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron currently has an energy-saving performance contract in the works. This project includes building controls on the water system for the base, and installing building and piping insulation.

"This project should save about $353 thousand dollars a year in energy ... so it's a big project," said Bill Turner, 92nd CES base energy manager and mechanical engineer.

Fairchild's overall objective is to have a strong infrastructure that is up-to-date, operates efficiently and serves the customers well. The base is also following the mandates of Executive Order 13423, signed by President George W. Bush, which requires a three-percent reduction per year on energy use until 2015, relative to a 2003 baseline.

"2006 was the first year we had to meet the three percent, and we did so easily," said Mr. Turner. "For fiscal year 07, the goal was six percent. We're thinking that we'll be around 8.7 percent, but we don't have all the figures in yet."

Mr. Turner feels the more modern the infrastructure, the easier to match people's needs, allowing them to focus on the mission at hand.

"Obviously, if the people aren't comfortable, then the productivity loss is going to be greater than the energy savings," said Mr. Turner.

For their efforts in energy conservation, the 92nd CES won the 2007 Federal Energy and Water Management Award.

"The FEWMA is an installation award, not an individual award," said David Luders, 92nd CES civil engineer, maintenance engineering element. "The efforts of the 92nd utilities shop personnel, plus those of Jay Logan and me, resulted in significant water saving for the base."

The projects that CE completed to earn the FEWMA award resulted in an annual savings of 261,965 gallons of water a year, with a monetary savings of $170,277 per year. The Fairchild utilities shop also completed 11 work orders for water-leak detection and repair that took 787 hours and cost $44,626.

Other base projects have also saved a significant amount of money. For instance, getting rid of the old steam plant had a first-year savings of 2.1 million dollars. And through the Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century program, the CES has developed several initiatives to assist in Fairchild energy conservation.

"It's actually the AFSO 21 emphasis that came up with the money for the energy management and control system upgrades for some buildings on the survival side, as well as purchasing a combustion analyzer to check the boilers on base."

Another sustainment initiative developed through AFSO21 was the idea of metering. Natural gas, electric, and water meters will be placed on individual buildings and meter readings taken at a central location.

"Bringing the readings into a central location would eliminate the expense of having to have someone go out and read meters by hand," said Mr. Turner.

Mr. Turner also feels that there are simple things that everyone can do to help out.

"If people through the course of their day do simple things, such as not leaving doors open and turning lights off when they're not in use, it could save a lot of money," said Mr. Turner. "The new computer policy of leaving them on only on certain days to get security patches was an excellent idea."

Team Fairchild will continue to do their part in the energy conservation effort, because as the SECAF said, every dollar that we save can be used for other critical programs.