Energy audits identify areas for savings

Published Aug. 10, 2010
By Monica Mendoza
21st Space Wing Public Affairs staff writer

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- On the rooftop of the 21st Space Wing Mission Support building, a team of environmental engineers poked around, took notes, snapped photos, opened control panels, and looked inside the giant air handlers.

The team conducted energy audits on several Peterson Air Force Base buildings in July, which included looking at all energy sources and recording notes. The team will write up their recommendations on how the base facilities can become more energy efficient.

"We will measure temperature, to try to get an idea of the conditions of the building -- checking for cold spots, hot spots, and seeing if there is an opportunity to rebalance," said Wayne Roder, a member of the audit team from Geo-Marine, a Knoxville, Tenn. firm which offers resource management services. The firm was contracted by Air Force Space Command to audit energy use on its installations.

Half of Peterson's buildings will be audited this year and half will be audited in 2012. Auditors are looking for ways energy is seeping out, being wasted and costing the Air Force money.

The goal of the audits is to identify areas that can be improved, come up with a list of priorities and submit proposed projects to the Air Force for funding, said Randy Pieper, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron resource efficiency manager.

"Energy is going to continue to get more expensive," Mr. Pieper said. "Doing energy conservation projects today will save a lot of money in the long run."

Auditors looked at outlets, lights, central control systems and boiler rooms. The audits are expected to include significant recommendations: replace furnaces, install new windows; and upgrade the base heating and air conditioning systems. Some recommendations likely will include installing solar shades on the windows in the Mission Support building atrium, to reduce the heat in the room, which in turn would reduce the amount of energy needed to cool the area. Another expected recommendation will be to paint the rooftop of the Mission Support building white, to reflect the heat. And yet another could include replacing the boilers in that building with high-efficiency condensing boilers, which use less fuel and can be as much as 10 to 12 percent more efficient.

"There have been a lot of advances in technology," Mr. Pieper said. "It makes sense to put condensing boilers in there."

The audits are part of the 2009 Air Force-wide energy savings plan, "Energy Solutions, Fueling the Mission," released in December. The plan calls for the Air Force to reduce its energy costs, increase its use of renewable energy sources -- including using wind turbines and solar panels -- and change its culture or attitude about energy conservation.

Starting this year, the Air Force set aside $250 million in operations and maintenance dollars for each of the next four years to help installations meet the federal energy mandates - that is energy conservation, water conservation and renewable energy programs. The recommendations that come out of the Peterson AFB energy audits will help the 21st CES prioritize its funding requests, Mr. Pieper said.

"If projects have a good return on their investment they have a good chance of getting funded," Mr. Pieper said.

Key energy goals include reducing facility energy by 30 percent; reducing potable water by 16 percent; increasing on-base renewable energy to three percent of all electricity; and increasing renewable energy to 10.5 percent of all electricity by 2015.

As the audit team walked through the buildings, Mr. Pieper took his own notes.

"The 21st Space Wing utility budget was reduced significantly for fiscal year 2011," Mr. Pieper said. "So, I'm looking for energy saving ideas that can be implemented quickly."