'Energy roadmap' earns AFSPC a SAME award

  • Published
  • By Jennifer Elmore
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
5/30/2013 - Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. --  Need some new ideas for invigorating your facility energy program? Take a page from Air Force Space Command's 'energy roadmap' which recently earned it the 2012 Society of American Military Engineers Sustainability Award for Education and Outreach. SAME presented the award at its Joint Engineering Training Conference in San Diego, Calif., last week.

"The AFSPC energy team developed a comprehensive energy roadmap to drive toward energy goals such as Executive Order 13514; save millions of dollars; and update infrastructure and failing equipment," said AFSPC Energy Branch Chief Todd Wynn.

AFSPC's Energy Management Steering Group, chaired by the AFSPC Vice Commander and made up of all directorates, numbered Air Forces, the Space and Missile Systems Center and all Wings, developed the roadmap leading to several recent accomplishments.

· Implemented an energy strategic communication plan. Public Affairs used the information to post 18 articles on the internet and reach 5,000 Facebook fans and 80,000 AFSPC website visitors. Public Affairs also created a video hosted by the vice commander and distributed it to all AFSPC installations challenging Airmen to look for ways to save energy and water.

· Emphasized energy management in all facility designs. AFSPC made an example of its headquarters building, which houses 1,500 personnel, by replacing 30-year-old systems furniture with energy-efficient units that include LED task lighting. To complement the extensive facility improvements, AFSPC developed an aggressive energy policy establishing core hours of 6 am to 6 pm Monday through Friday. Lighting, heating and cooling are significantly diminished outside of these hours.

The command also installed LED overhead lighting in the building, a pilot test for the Air Force. According to Fox Theriault, energy analyst and LED project coordinator, the project is yielding approximately 50 percent energy savings and has tremendously improved lighting distribution, while reducing maintenance. Currently, LED lights are only used outdoors but their test may pave the way for policy change.

· Deployed high-efficiency exterior lighting command wide. AFSPC took the lead for the Air Force by centrally procuring light emitting diode fixtures to replace older technology street and parking lot lights. The $4.9 million contract includes 6,600 LED fixtures to cut energy use in half and reduce operations and maintenance costs by $975,000 annually.

· Examined energy intense mission activities. Unlike most major commands where aircraft fuel dominates the energy consumption, in AFSPC facility 'plug-load' plays a larger role. The command looked at procedural ways to save energy such as ensuring energy conservation is part of the acquisition process when replacing weapons systems.

· Reduced energy use at its top two most intensive geographically separated units. AFSPC earned support and funding from the offices of the Secretary of the Air Force and Secretary of Defense to reduce energy consumption at Thule Air Base, Greenland, and Clear Air Force Station, Alaska. For example, a $15.3 million project will connect Clear to the electric grid, decommission a 50-year-old oversized power plant and save 659,561 million BTUs annually.

· Developed and deployed energy management systems at Thule AFB and New Boston AFS, N.H. The new systems monitor and control energy consumed by facility systems such as heating and cooling systems and will save $3 million and 115,000 million BTUs annually.

"AFSPC is the command to be with as we reach out to implement new and cutting edge technologies in the civil engineering world," said Col. Joseph Schwarz, the command's Deputy Director for Installations and Mission Support.