October is Energy Awareness Month

  • Published
  • By Mark Smith
  • 60th Civil Engineering Squadron
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Now more than ever, it is important that each of us take a moment to think about conserving the water and energy we use every day at work at home. Simply put, it's the right thing to do.

David Bibb, acting administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration, stated during the 2008 GovEnergy Conference that "everyone is an energy manager - whether we manage the energy we use in our own home, at our workplace or in our cubicle. The most readily available source of energy is that which we waste every day."

While you are at work, take a look at your surroundings and think in terms of energy efficiency. If it doesn't impact your work, turn off or turn down what you don't need to be using. Take note if your air compressor cycles even if it isn't being used, as it may have a leak. Replace the old refrigerator in your lunch room if it's more than 15-years-old or at least clean the coils in the back or underneath the refrigerator.

Take a look at your building during off-hours before you leave work and see if there are lights on or fans running that don't need to be on. Turn off your computer monitor, adjust the thermostat to save energy and make sure appliances are turned off when you leave for the day. Reducing energy use in office buildings during the off-hours or at home when you are away, is one of the easiest ways to conserve. Add checking the lights and fans to your routine when you check to make sure the doors are locked before you leave.

Higher utility rates for the average consumer and for Travis are a real possibility. The current financial crisis means in part that not only the cost of borrowing money has increased but that banks are not lending. Businesses, including utility companies, borrow to meet payroll commitments and to perform capital improvements. Not being able to borrow, means funding for necessary capital improvement projects may not be available and the potential exists that funding will be generated by increasing utility costs for the consumer.

Talk to your facility manager. They should be using the Energy Management Handbook provided to them when they took on their facility manager responsibilities. It contains a checklist that will make it easier to find where water, electricity and natural gas are being wasted in the workplace. Challenge your facility manager and ask if they use their checklist, what they've found and what can be done to conserve. Take the energy challenge head on and be aware of the energy you really need to use, then look at what you are actually using. Challenge yourself to find as many ways to conserve as possible, while still maintaining quality of life and accomplishing your mission. There are no cost and low cost ways to conserve like those mentioned above, but if you have an idea for a larger energy conservation effort at your work that might require funding and a project, contact the Travis Air Force Base Energy Office at 424-3062. Provide as much information as you can about your idea for an energy conservation project.

Take the energy challenge and take a moment during this month to think about energy conservation. It's the right thing to do.