November 21, 2007—Five federal energy management teams were honored recently with the Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management for their efforts to save energy and use renewable energy. The five teams are responsible for approximately $133 million and 4.6 billion Btu in savings.
Consisting of 51 federal employees and contractors, the awardees were selected from nominations submitted to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
The five departments’ accomplishments encompass a wide range of energy management goals:
- Laboratories for the 21st Century, a voluntary partnership co-sponsored by the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency, worked with 80 laboratories, half of them federal, to save more than 533 billion Btu.
- The US Air Force Energy Management Senior Focus Group at the Department of Defense saved $100 million and 3.3 trillion Btu through their rigorous energy management program. In FY 2006, the Air Force remained the largest green power purchaser in the federal government with more than 990 gigawatt hours of renewable-generated electricity.
- The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Energy Management Committee implemented an energy management plan that resulted in an 18% decrease in energy intensity between 2003 and 2006.
- The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management Energy Efficiency Team created a plan applicable to all agencies with small, remote facilities that culminated in $400,000 and 20 billion Btu in annual savings for 105 sites.
- The Justice Department’s Federal Bureau of Prisons invested $3.5 million in a wind turbine and solar electric array at the Federal Correctional Complex in Victorville, CA, thereby saving $350,000 in annual energy costs.
Over the past three years, the federal government has reduced its energy use by 6.4% per square foot, and is currently meeting 6.9% of its electricity needs with renewable energy, notes FEMP.
For more information see FEMP’s Presidential Awards for Leadership in Federal Energy Management Web page.
