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Air Force Reserve Command committed to cutting energy costs

  • Published
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  As the energy program manager for Air Force Reserve Command, Roy Locke knows that the key to cutting energy consumption is to chip away at it a little at a time.

The Air Force Reserve began curbing energy usage in the early 1970s when it first implemented a formal energy conservation program.

"We try to save energy everywhere we can, even it's a small amount," Mr. Locke said. "A lot of small savings can add up over time."

Early on, the command made a big dent in its energy consumption by replacing old and inefficient central heating plants with more efficient decentralized heating systems at many of the bases it owns. By using the more efficient heating systems and natural gas as an energy source instead of higher-priced fuel oil, AFRC was able to cut its overall energy bill by 20 percent.

Years ago, the command also switched from incandescent lighting to more efficient fluorescent lighting at Reserve locations throughout the country.

"These changes were what you might consider low hanging fruit," Mr. Locke said. "They were changes that were relatively easy to implement that helped us cut consumption right away."

From there, the command has had to dig a little deeper to reduce the amount of energy it uses every year. The Air Force Reserve is fortunate to have a dedicated team of people throughout the command committed to cutting energy costs, Mr. Locke said.

"AFRC has experienced a steady decline in energy usage since 1985 except for a few bumps as Base Realignment and Closure bases were brought on board," he said. "This success has been based on the hard work of a number of people and not one particular individual. Base energy managers, civil engineers and operations people have all played a large part in this reduction."

In 1985, Congress mandated that government facilities reduce their energy consumption by 20 percent before the year 2000. AFRC reduced its facilities energy consumption by 24 percent during that time. The command also met the fiscal 2005 goal of achieving a 30-percent reduction in million British thermal units used by square foot based on a 1985 baseline.

The current goal is to reduce energy consumption 2 percent each year through fiscal 2015, using 2003 as the baseline year.

"When the baseline was set in 2003, AFRC was already at the average 2009 Air Force reduction level," Mr. Locke said.

AFRC identifies target areas for energy conservation by conducting energy audits at all Reserve-owned facilities.

"Currently, AFRC is 100-percent audited with our final audit being completed at Pittsburgh (Pa.) Air Reserve Station last year," Mr. Locke said.

"Once the project identified in that audit is completed next year and we finish up the energy projects being funded for this year, AFRC will have completed between 94 and 98 percent of all energy conservation opportunities indentified in these audits."

Because of the command's successes in the past, it's getting harder and harder to find energy conservation opportunities, Mr. Locke said.

"But we have a new resource energy manager to assist the command in this endeavor, and we're looking into some different areas like energy security, operations and maintenance practices, energy awareness and major construction practice changes to move us toward our current goals."

Mr. Locke said the way the Air Force Reserve operates creates unique energy challenges.

"We have small facilities and small bases with little to no economies of scale, plus we have unit training assembly weekends," he said. "UTA weekends are part of our mission. They are what we do, but they have a major impact upon our utility costs.

"Some bases actually double in number during a UTA weekend causing the base to consume as much energy in that weekend for two days as it did the entire five previous weekdays," he explained. "With so many small facilities, we have found that electronic controls are not always cost-effective, but we've also found that controls are not always set back when a facility is unoccupied.

"These are just some of the challenges the command is facing in terms of energy consumption."

In addition to cutting energy consumption, AFRC's energy program managers are committed to using renewable sources of energy that are better for the environment whenever possible.

At March Air Reserve Base, Calif., for example, solar panels placed on the roofs of covered parking facilities generate nearly 10 percent of the electricity the base needs to operate its facilities.

The command is also using alternative fuels for its fleet of ground vehicles at all Reserve locations. At some bases, the alternative fuel of choice is compressed natural gas. Other locations are using E85, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petroleum. Still others are running on B20, which is 80 percent diesel and 20 percent bio-diesel soybean oil or other vegetable oils.

Whether in its facilities or vehicles, AFRC is committed to reducing energy consumption and using renewable, environmentally friendly sources of energy to the maximum extent possible, Mr. Locke said.

"For AFRC, energy conservation is an ongoing project," he said. "We will always look for ways to save energy and operate our facilities in the most efficient ways possible." (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)