Depot takes the gold in energy conservation; award is in alignment with strategic plan

By Bill Bartkus
NAVAIR Depot North Island

CORONADO, Calif – As Americans were winning gold medals at the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, NAVAIR Depot North Island employees garnered a gold award of their own. The Depot captured the Gold Level for Achievement in the Secretary of the Navy Conservation Awards for fiscal year 2003. Depot officials have been invited to the Oct. 26 awards ceremony at the Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C.

“Our workforce is becoming more and more aware of energy conservation. Last year, the Depot won the Blue Award which is one level below the gold,” said Lucia Sapien, an environmental engineer and the Depot’s energy conservation manager. “It would be a feather in our cap if we win a Platinum Award for fiscal year 2004. Winning this top award will take a little effort on everyone’s part, but I am confident that we can do it.”

“These Gold Medal winning activities executed comprehensive conservation programs based on senior-level command involvement, with well staffed and trained energy teams, aggressive awareness campaigns, investigation and execution of innovative energy conservation measures, and consistent reduction in energy consumption,” said Navy Secretary Gordon England in a Navywide message announcing the 2003 winners.

A presidential executive order requires federal facilities to reduce total energy consumption by 30 percent by 2005, “but Industrial facilities must reduce by at least 20 percent in 2005 and an additional 5 percent by 2010,” Sapien pointed out. “The Gold Award shows that the Depot is on the right track towards energy conservation. We stand at 15 percent reduction today, so we’re nearly there,” she said.

The secretary applauded the work of the energy winners, noting the strong and determined efforts by all Navy commands. “Congratulations and my personal gratitude to all the outstanding achievers. You are all energy champions,” he said. “I strongly encourage all Navy and Marine Corps activities and personnel to continue to be good stewards of energy and water by reducing consumption and implementing energy cost savings measures.”

Sapien noted that NAVAIR Depot North Island was the only NAVAIR command to receive a Navy energy conservation award for fiscal year 2003.

She mentioned that the plant manager, the comptroller, building supervisors, and facility and building managers receive monthly energy and utility summary reports on the top 10 buildings in the plant that consume the greatest amount of electricity, steam, and water. “These 10 buildings use 85 percent of the Depot’s total energy resources of electricity, steam, and natural gas,” she said. “The reports show cost, usage, and trend profiles to help personnel in identifying energy conservation opportunities and anomalies.”

The reports, developed by the energy manager, are based on Navy Public Works cost and consumption data and depict seasonal and operational trends throughout the plant. “Since fiscal year 2000, we have reduced electricity usage in these 10 buildings by 8.5 percent. The reports help to assess building efficiency, develop energy conservation and monitoring programs, provide utility budget support for the Depot, and obtain verification measurements for energy projects,” Sapien noted.

In the Manufacturing building for example, the Depot saved 14 percent of the building’s electrical usage by installing high output fluorescent lamps and automatic on and off switches. The building itself consumes about 30 percent of the Depot’s total electricity, steam, and natural gas.

The Paint Complex reduced its energy consumption in fiscal year 2003 by a whopping 35 percent since fiscal year 2000. The complex reduced its nighttime and weekend energy load by piloting its own building energy monitor program. “Production supervisors designated area monitors to walk through specified areas to turn off lights and equipment before locking up and going home,” Sapien said. “These no cost initiatives dramatically reduced energy usage.”

The result: both buildings, coupled with energy awareness programs throughout the plant, attributed to an annual cost efficiency of nearly $600,000 ($294,000 per building).

Sapien noted that even though the Depot is close to meeting the executive order, “we are still developing projects to help us reach our goals of reducing energy consumption. The Depot is using two methods to focus on reducing energy – one is awareness and the other is facility improvements,” she said.

“It’s amazing how resourceful Depot employees have been in saving energy. Although the Depot is starting to implement facility energy improvement projects that should help reduce the facility’s demand for energy, the energy reduction we have seen in the last three years can mostly be attributed to good energy management practices on everyone’s part.”

Several facility improvements are now being constructed through the Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP) funds, congressional funds awarded to the Depot for the purpose of improving energy efficiency.

Sapien said that all Depot employees are energy conscious. “They are reporting that lights are being left on when no one is occupying a space, or they are turning off lights where and when they aren’t needed. Some have even submitted Beneficial Suggestions in ways to reduce energy. But she appeals to everyone’s continued diligence toward awareness, since the Depot has gradually increased its energy usage in fiscal year 2004. “Some of this increase can be attributed to production workload increases, which is unavoidable,” Sapien said. “Nonetheless, conservation efforts should continue wherever possible, like making sure that unnecessary building lights and shop/lab equipment are secured over weekends and holidays.”

Said Sapien, “This is a Depot-wide initiative, and I’m proud that all of us are on the right track to saving energy which also saves taxpayer dollars, decreases pollution, preserves our natural resources, and reduces our demand on foreign resources.”
Finally, as noted in last month’s NAVAIR Depot North Island Strategic Plan and the AIRSpeed insert in Depotalk, this award supports our organizational vision “To be the leader in innovative aviation maintenance solutions, committed to customer, workforce and community.” Our energy conservation program is in alignment with the strategic goal; organizational excellence and strategic objective; employer of choice. It is a stellar example of being a good neighbor in the community. As good neighbors to San Diego, we protect our environment by maintaining an Energy Conservation Program that complies with local, state and federal regulations based on the philosophy of “beyond compliance”.

NAVAIR provides cost-wise readiness and dominant maritime combat power to make a great Navy and Marine Corps team better.