Energy survey finds millions in potential savings

  • Published
  • By Amy Ausley
  • AFCESA
Tyndall AFB, Fla. --  When you're paying up to 49 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity, it's a good idea to find ways to cut back. An energy survey team from the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency at Tyndall AFB, Fla.,is doing just that for the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at an undisclosed base in Southwest Asia.

The base receives power from three different electrical utility providers ranging in price from seven cents to 49 cents per Kwh. As an enduring base with a large population and a mix of expeditionary tents, modular trailer facilities and permanent structures, the peak electrical load in the summer can be as high as 30 megawatts..

After reviewing utility bills, base plans and temperature and meter readings and conducting site visits and interviews with base personnel, the AFCESA team developed a list of suggestions aimed at significantly reducing energy and fuel use. According to team member Mr. Rich Peck, an analyst for the Basic Expeditionary Airfield Resources Program, "We were there to assess expeditionary energy efficiency opportunities, including energy demand reduction, and to assess the feasibility of renewable energy use such as solar water heating and photovoltaic energy production."

One of the biggest energy consumers at the base is in an area called the coalition compound. This billeting area has a total of 4,080 "window shaker" air conditioning units. The team recommended replacing the current energy-inefficient units with energy-efficient split ductless units which could save up to five million dollars a year.

A base this large requires an enormous amount of area lighting and most of those lights are running at the higher 49 cents per kWh rate. The base currently has a successful solar LED lighting project installed on a pedestrian sidewalk that has successfully operated for three years. The AFCESA survey team suggested expanding the concept to additional areas of the base, particularly new construction. This move could save around $715 per light a year for a 400-watt light.

In some areas of the base supplemental lighting is provided by over 75 diesel powered light carts. The light carts use approximately seven and a half gallons of fuel per night each for a total cost of more than one million dollars per year. Procurement is currently underway to purchase 25 replacement solar LED light carts, with a recommendation from the energy survey team to increase that number to 50 if funding is available. These solar powered LED light carts will also reduce the manpower requirement needed to refuel the 75 diesel powered light carts every other day.

The team also suggested foaming and thermal coating the outside of the large tensioned-fabric shelters on base which are used for environmentally controlled storage, shop work and base exchange facilities. Each shelter currently uses three 10-ton air conditioning units which don't adequately cool the shelters during the summer. With the foaming and coating, a single 10-ton unit will suffice with improved cooling capability. Potential energy savings are more than three million per year, plus it eliminates the cost of re-covering the shelters.

There were several other recommendations for further study at the base, such as electrical metering of shower/shave facilities with the possible future installation of solar hot water heaters; data collection and analysis of thermal coatings on roofs of warehouses and billeting common areas; and an engineering review of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems on the roofs of some billeting facilities as well as the BX mall and the base gym.

Survey team member Mr. Rod Fisher, an expeditionary modernization engineer at AFCESA, said, "We feel confident if the base implements the suggestions we made as a result of our survey, they could reduce energy demand by at least 10 percent, probably more, which would equate to millions of dollars every year in savings for the Air Force."