This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.
October 06, 2006
White House Honors Federal Agency Teams For Saving Energy
The White House honored five energy management teams from the Department of Defense, the Social Security Administration (SSA), and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) on October 6th for their dedication and leadership in the conservation and prudent management of energy use in their facilities and operations. The teams, comprising 49 federal employees and contractors, are responsible for efforts that have resulted in estimated annual savings of more than $12 million and 417 billion Btu, equivalent to the energy used in about 6,000 typical homes.
The five winning teams of the 2006 Presidential Awards for Leadership in Federal Energy Management include Naval Base Coronado in San Diego, California, which cut its energy use by 13.2 billion Btu last year; the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Division Keyport, Washington, which saved 18.4 billion Btu last year and has deployed fuel-efficient vehicles while setting green building standards for new building construction; the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona, which saved 8.1 billion Btu last year through the use of high-efficiency LED and fluorescent lighting; the SSA's Energy Initiatives Team, which has deployed solar power projects, placed energy saving performance contracts, and purchased green power and Energy Star products for the agency as a whole; and the USPS Pacific Area Energy Program Committee, which conducted energy audits in 322 postal facilities in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada over the past two years, installing solar power systems and saving nearly 340 billion Btu per year. See the DOE press release.
Federal energy-saving efforts are guided by Executive Order 13123, which directs Executive Branch departments and agencies to conserve energy use in their facilities, and by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which calls on the federal government to reduce its energy intensity by 2 percent each year, and requires that the federal government purchase at least 7.5 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2013. See DOE's Federal Energy Management Program Web site.
