Federal Agencies in the
Western United States

FNS Members win Awards at the 2004 Federal Energy and Water Management Ceremony hosted by U.S. Department of Energy on October 28, 2004!

Energy Efficiency/Energy Program Management Awards to Organizations

U.S. Department of Energy
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Golden, Colorado

In FY 2003, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) demonstrated leadership in sustainability through the implementation of their comprehensive, laboratory-wide "Sustainable NREL" program. A considerable number of projects helped NREL achieve significant results in meeting and exceeding federal sustainability mandates. For example, several energy retrofit and water conservation projects resulted in savings of almost 3.9 million Btu and 1.1 million gallons of water. NREL purchased almost 2 million kilowatt-hours of green power, representing about 10 percent of their annual electricity usage in FY 2003. On-site wind and PV systems generated 120 megawatt-hours of electricity to further offset utility purchases. Seventy-five percent of NREL's fleet are now alternative fuel vehicles, which reduced the fleet's petroleum use by more than 2,000 gallons, a 19 percent improvement from FY 2002. Through an environmentally-preferable purchasing program, 100 percent of office paper, carpeting, and toner cartridges purchased contained recycled content. NREL also recycled over 230,000 pounds of office materials, a 12 percent increase from FY 2002. Finally, in FY 2003 NREL designed their National Wind Technology Center Site Entrance Building as a state-of-the-art, near zero energy building, with sustainable features such as daylighting, a good thermal envelope, passive solar heating, photovolatics, and a wind turbine.

U.S. Department of the Navy
Navy Public Works Center
San Diego , California

In FY 2003, the Navy Public Works Center, San Diego (PWCSD) completed $3 million in comprehensive energy upgrades on six central compressor plants at four Naval and Marine Corps bases to provide high quality compressed air at the lowest possible energy cost. The project implemented state-of-the-art compressor technology, which enabled PWCSD to take two of the six existing compressor plants offline while improving the overall quality of the compressed air and the efficiency of the systems. At Naval Base Coronado and Naval Base San Diego, the PWCSD tied two independent compressor plants together, allowing for greater efficiency and reliability. At Naval Base Point Loma and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, PWCSD implemented energy upgrades that greatly reduced compressor energy use while improving system reliability. These projects reduced energy use by more than 19 billion Btu in FY 2003, saving $560,000 in compressed air production costs and reducing Navy peak electrical demand on the taxed California power grid by 1.6 megawatts.

Energy Efficiency/Energy Program Management Awards to Small Groups

 Phil Beste
Jerry Gray
Mark Halvorsen

U.S. Department of the Navy
Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Keyport
Keyport , Washington

In FY 2003, the facilities energy management team at Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Keyport developed a variety of innovative and non-traditional initiatives to achieve energy reduction goals. A Resource Efficiency Manager (REM) program, implemented with Puget Sound Energy, identified and achieved significant energy and cost savings opportunities on the base. NUWC Keyport also participated in the Western Power Grid Peak Demand and Energy Reduction Program, which resulted in an energy survey at no cost to NUWC Keyport and identified energy savings improvements in 10 buildings comprising 106,000-square-feet of space. Base-wide facility energy improvements and lighting upgrades were conducted, utilizing the most efficient systems and eliminating all incandescent and older fluorescent lamps. NUWC Keyport also modified the base's main boilers to include automatic operation and remote monitoring, and installed cellular transmitters on all electric meters, transformers, and natural gas meters via a Web-based application, which allowed the base to obtain daily reports on consumption for individual facilities. Additional projects included installing occupancy sensors and setting back heating and cooling temperature during evenings, weekends, and holidays. The energy program also provided extensive training to technical and engineering personnel in energy-efficient technologies, engineering applications, and life-cycle costing. Together, these measures saved NUWC Keyport more than 31 billion Btu and more than $630,000 in energy costs in FY 2003.

Rubin Carter
Don Bader
Robert Sheldon
Rhonda Stewart
Jim Sura

U.S. Department of the Navy
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility
Bremerton , Washington

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility invested over $2.6 million in numerous projects in FY 2003 that produced significant cost and energy savings for the base. Energy reduction initiatives included a light-emitting diode (LED) upgrade of all fire alarm boxes, lighting retrofits, boiler efficiency improvements, installation of a photovoltaic panel, improved steam trap maintenance and repairs, summertime steam heating shutdowns, and HVAC rescheduling. The Shipyard awarded a contract for a compressed air repair project that is expected to save 13 gigawatt-hours per year over the original system, and initiated several other projects such as LED streetlight retrofits, occupancy sensor controls, a heat recovery water reclamation project, and wind power installation. Along with implementation of basic energy management practices and water management best practices, extensive training in energy-efficient design strategies, and a revitalized awareness program, these efforts resulted in savings of more than 100 billion Btu and almost $800,000 in FY 2003.

Energy Efficiency/Energy Program Management Award to an Individual

Harry Carpenter
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Twentynine Palms, California

Harry Carpenter is recognized for his dedication to sustainable practices at Joshua Tree National Park over the past ten years. His hard work and determination transformed the Park into a benchmark for green policies throughout the National Park Service. Mr. Carpenter creatively implemented numerous sustainable projects through a variety of programs, including private sector rebates, repair and rehabilitation funding, general operational upgrades, and technical assistance grants from the Federal Energy Management Program. During his tenure at Joshua Tree National Park, eight diesel-powered generators have been replaced with nine solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. Two additional grid-tied PV systems now provide 60 percent of the electricity requirements of the Park Headquarters. Construction of a new sustainable operation office complex is underway, complete with a covered parking area roofed with photovoltaic panels. This PV array, along with the 64 kilowatt system already in place, is projected to meet more than 90 percent of the Park's electrical demand. Two brand new facilities utilize sustainable building materials such as recycled glass, tire, lumber, and concrete, while also incorporating energy-saving technologies such as double paned windows, high efficiency appliances and lighting, and motion sensors. To further reduce pollutants, the Park now operates eight compressed natural gas (CNG) re-fueling stations serving eight CNG vehicles. Ten electric vehicles are used in the management of nine campgrounds, all of which power up via PV power generation. Finally, the Joshua Tree National Park volunteer recycling program has recycled over 100 tons of recyclables since it was established in 1996. Taken together, all of the practices put in place by Mr. Carpenter are saving approximately $44,000 annually in energy costs.

ENERGY STAR® Building Award for Superior Performance

ENERGY STAR® is a symbol of energy efficiency established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy. Buildings that are among the top 25 percent nationwide in terms of energy performance (earning a bench marking score of 75 or greater) an maintain an indoor environment that conforms to industry standards can qualify to receive the ENERGY STAR® label for buildings. One building is recognized this year as an outstanding example of energy efficiency in the federal sector.

NBVC Welcome Center
Naval Base Ventura County
Department of the Navy
Port Hueneme , California

Originally built in the 1960's for use as the Base's Navy Exchange, the recently renovated NBVC Welcome Center at Naval Base Ventura County now serves as a "one-stop" center for a variety of military services. The unique new energy efficient design creates an interior space unlike any seen before at a U.S. Naval facility. The building has an open floor plan with sculptural walls painted a variety of bright colors, open ceilings, skylights, and exposed ventilation system ductwork. The building employs energy saving equipment, including energy efficient lighting and HVAC. Together, these features earned the building an outstanding ENERGY STAR® bench marking score of 96.

Federal Energy Saver Showcase Award Winners

Admiral Prout Field House and Pool
U.S. Department of the Navy
Naval Base San Diego
San Diego , California

At Naval Base San Diego, the Admiral Prout Field House and Pool showcase solar technologies to 200,000 personnel who use the facility each year. On the rooftop of the gymnasium, a 10,000-square foot solar energy system comprised of 200 thermal solar collectors provides more than 60 percent of the energy needed to heat the facility's large swimming pool. A control system collects data on the pool temperature, solar water temperature and ambient sunlight, allowing the system to use either the solar panels or boiler to adjust the pool's water temperature. High output, high efficiency lighting fixtures are controlled by photocells, which turn on and off depending on the amount of ambient light entering through skylights, which allow for the lights to be turned off for much of the daylight period. Two levels of zoned lighting allows for even greater control when less lighting is needed. Additionally, a thermal solar heating project was installed using a utility energy services contract. Together, these measures reduced energy consumption by 48 percent in FY 2003.

View the other agency award winners at the DOE/FEMP website:

http://www.eere.energy.gov/femp/services/awards_fewm2004.cfm#energyorg