Agencies win White House kudos for saving energy
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Five agencies were recognized by the White House today for their leadership in managing energy use in their facilities and operations.
Five agencies were recognized by the White House today for their leadership in managing energy use in their facilities and operations.
Energy management teams from the Energy, Defense, Homeland Security, Interior and Justice departments and the Environmental Protection Agency are responsible for an estimated annual savings of more than $133 million and almost 4.6 trillion BTUs, which is equal to the energy used by about 50,000 U.S. households. The five teams are made up of 51 federal employees and contractors.
Clay Johnson, the Office of Management and Budget's deputy director of management, and Alexander Karsner, Energy's assistant secretary of energy efficiency and renewable energy, presented the awards.
'Your efforts strengthen our country and ensure that America will continue to lead the world in innovation for decades to come,' said President Bush, congratulating the honorees.
The specific achievements of the five teams were:
- DOD's Air Force Energy Management Senior Focus Group ' The Senior Focus Group saved the Air Force $100 million and more than 3.3 trillion BTUs in 2006, enough to power Boulder, Colo., for a year.
- Energy and EPA, Laboratories for the 21st Century ' Laboratories for the 21st Century is a voluntary partnership dedicated to improving the energy and environmental performance of laboratories, which are five to 10 times more energy intensive than office buildings. Eighteen partners reduced their combined annual energy use by 533 billion BTUs, the energy used by about 14,500 households in a year. They also avoided emissions of about 218 million pounds of carbon dioxide, which is the equivalent of removing about 21,000 cars from the road.
- Homeland Security's Energy Management Committee ' DHS implemented stewardship of energy resources into its standard practices for nine major components. The Energy Management Committee published a master energy plan that established specific goals for the DHS' facility energy management activities. The new guidelines resulted in an 18 percent decrease in energy intensity in 2006 from 2003 levels.
- Interior's Bureau of Land Management Energy Efficiency Team ' Made up of small facilities scattered in remote areas of the country, BLM, in partnership with Energy and Johnson Controls, streamlined and tailored its energy savings processes to meet the bureau's needs. Now 105 sites are receiving $4.9 million in energy efficiency improvements yielding annual savings of almost $400,000 and annual energy savings of 20 billion BTUs.
- Justice's Federal Bureau of Prisons ' The director of the bureau initiated an energy outreach program that lets energy program staff collaborate with community leaders to spread knowledge about federal efforts in energy conservation, renewable energy and sustainable practices. At the federal correctional complex in Victorville, Calif., the bureau invested $3.5 million to install Justice's first wind turbine and photovoltaic array, saving $350,000 in annual energy costs and almost 1.9 million kilowatt hours annually.
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