Air Force Wins 5 DOE Federal Energy and Water Management Awards Published Oct. 31, 2019 By Leslie Irwin, Air Force Energy SAF/IEE Washington, DC -- Five Air Force individuals and teams were recognized on October 29th at the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Federal Energy and Water Management Awards Ceremony. The awards honor federal employees who developed and implemented exemplary projects or led programs related to improving facility energy and water resilience, reducing cost, increasing efficiency, generating on-site renewable energy, and building energy storage across the nation. “Our Air Force award winners are going above and beyond at our installations to ensure mission assurance through energy assurance,” said the Honorable John Henderson, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment, and Energy. “We are extremely proud of our Airmen, Air Force civilians and private sector partners who continue to enable the overall readiness and resilience of our Air Force and nation.” Of the nine government agencies winning 28 awards, the Air Force received five across four different categories. FEMP’s Director, Rob Ivester, presented each winner with certificates of achievement with the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Environment, Safety and Infrastructure, Mark Correll, on hand to offer congratulations. Congratulations to the following Air Force winners: CAREER EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE AWARD Robert Bossert Civil Engineering Technical Services Center Air National Guard, North Dakota As Chief of the Air National Guard (ANG) Civil Engineering Technical Services Center, Robert Bossert helped build a comprehensive energy program capable of anticipating and responding to current and future ANG energy and water demands. Between FY 1994 and FY 2018, Mr. Bossert and his team executed 888 separate energy projects valued at more than $573 million. In FY 2018 alone, program personnel executed 26 energy projects valued at $24.4 million and performed facility audits at 21 installations covering 7.3 million square feet. His efforts have resulted in a cumulative reduction in ANG energy use intensity of more than 25% since FY 2003 and water intensity of more than 31% since FY 2007. CONTRACTING AWARDS Karen Bastian Keith Carvalho (DLA Energy) Nick King Brian Walsh Hill Air Force Base, Utah In FY 2018, the Defense Logistics Agency awarded a $91.1 million 20-year term energy savings performance contract (ESPC) at Hill Air Force Base (AFB). The comprehensive project spans 262 buildings and 9.1 million square feet. Energy conservation measures, including process improvements, lighting upgrades, steam distribution insulation, compressed air system upgrades, a PV array installation, and industrial ventilation air reduction, will reduce overall energy consumption by 9% and energy costs by 13% while increasing the installation’s distributed/renewable energy portfolio by 30%. Jeffery Fanto Seth Keller (Energy Systems Group) John Kitson Daniel Nocher Eddie Springle (Okaloosa Gas District) Eglin Air Force Base, Florida Eglin AFB awarded a $57.8 million ESPC that includes energy conservation and resilience measures, a microgrid, and solar arrays and combined heat and power systems capable of producing 121 billion Btu annually. As part of the ESPC, Eglin also entered into a unique agreement with Okaloosa Gas District, allowing resilience assets to be supported under the terms of the ESPC contract vehicle. Together the projects are estimated to reduce total electrical consumption by approximately 35%, or 50 billion Btu, and will save nearly $4.4 million annually. PROGRAM AWARD Peter Dufault Patrick "Shannon" Kelly Maj Mathew Lehman CMSgt John Talcott Maj Jason Villemaire Air National Guard Vermont Burlington, Vermont The policies, strategies, and overall management of Vermont Air National Guard's energy program contribute to a culture of optimized performance, resource conservation, environmental protection, waste reduction, cost reduction, and enhanced resiliency of infrastructure and operations, all of which enable more effective accomplishment of the ANG mission. The team uses strategies such as integrating energy efficiency into all capital improvement projects and implementing maintenance best practices. PROJECT AWARD Leslie Brown Kenneth Domako Richard Fillman Cynthia Ralph (DLA) Vandenberg Air Force Base, California Vandenberg AFB partnered with Sun Power to develop and install a state-of-the-art 28.2 MW solar PV power system. A 26-year term, firm fixed price power purchase agreement represents the largest single solar power PV array built on Air Force property, where all the energy generated will be used exclusively by the installation. From January 2018 through the end of the fiscal year, the system generated almost 35.5 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, representing 38% of the installation’s electrical energy needs.