The Department of Energy's FEMP Federal Energy and Water Management Awards recognize individuals, groups, and agencies for their outstanding contributions in the areas of energy and water efficiency, resilience, and technology achievements; distributed energy; cyber security; and fleet management at federal facilities. FEMP will honor the winners of both the 2021 and 2022 awards via a ceremony and celebration at Energy Exchange in Cincinnati, Ohio in October.
PROGRAM AWARDS
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Environment, Safety, and Infrastructure
Installation Energy Program
In January 2021, the Installation Energy program published its Installation Energy Strategic Plan, an innovative living roadmap to bolster energy resilience for mission assurance. SAF/IEE has gone above and beyond in service of the mission, for example, establishing Energy Resilience Readiness Exercises as a cornerstone to both mission assurance and energy assurance efforts across the Department. SAF/IEE also developed the Water Dashboard as a first-of-its-kind tool with an interface that users were already familiar with, reducing costs and time for users to learn the software. Additionally, in October 2021, the DAF announced that it would be conducting a first-of-its-kind micro-reactor Pilot Program at Eielson AFB. The next-generation energy technology is expected to provide the installation with a clean, reliable, and resilient energy supply for critical national security infrastructure, and inform future resilience applications for the enterprise. These initiatives led the DAF to reduce energy use intensity on its installations by 3.55% in FY21 from the previous year and 31.87% from the FY03 baseline, and to reduce water intensity by 9.4% in FY21 and 26.8% from the FY07 baseline.
Award Recipients: Douglas Tucker, Christian Paasch, Seema Aziz-Hall, and Judith Willis
PROJECT AWARDS
Hanscom Air Force Base
In 2021, Hanscom AFB completed the construction of an Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) project to install a natural gas take station and simultaneously completed the construction of a 4.6 MW cogeneration plant under an energy savings performance contract (ESPC). The ERCIP was a highly complex project that constructed a new delivery point on the Kinder Morgan interstate gas pipeline that crosses HAFB. This project successfully delivered a take station to include both high-pressure and low-pressure distribution. The cogeneration plant is capable of producing 4.6 MW of electricity as well as 40,000 PPH of 100 psi steam and represents the single largest energy resiliency improvement ever made on Hanscom AFB, providing over $3M a year in energy savings. As part of the project, Hanscom AFB also changed how it procures natural gas. In FY21 HAFB successfully transitioned from the retail gas market to the wholesale gas market, effectively eliminating the need to pay a transportation tariff to the local utility company. Future year savings are expected to be over $1M a year in transportation costs.
Award Recipients: Karl Berg, Joshua Guerra, Leo Shortsleeve, and David Wong
Keesler Air Force Base
In FY 2021, Keesler AFB and NORESCO completed the construction of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) project with $64.6 million in guaranteed energy savings. The project, contracted through the Department Logistics Agency in collaboration with Air Force Civil Engineer Center, helps the base advance resiliency, security, and renewable energy usage while reducing deferred maintenance and energy costs. The scope of work included a 1.5MW solar photovoltaic carport array at the base commissary built to withstand hurricane force winds. It also integrated several different legacy control systems into a single, cybersecure Energy Management Control System, optimized chilled water plants, and upgraded nearly 30,000 light fixtures with LEDs. The expected emissions reductions from Keesler AFB ESPC are 29,974,634 lb/year of carbon dioxide, 88,259 lb/year of sulfur oxides, and 26,613 lb/year of nitrogen oxides. This is the equivalent of saving 14,103 acres of average forest or 3,622 cars removed from the road.
Award Recipients: Robert Baker, Tasha Golson, Bridgette Rodgers, Robert Moseley, and Col. Heather Blackwell
Read about previous Air Force Federal Energy and Water Management Award winners here.