Put away your portable air conditioning units for those long summer days and take out your space heater. Or better yet, let me tell you about a few tips on how to use conventional radiators. Every October, the Department of the Air Force empowers installations to bring attention to energy use and how to better manage resources. We encourage Airmen and civilians to create habits guided toward energy conservation. It is important to emphasize these habits are not only for the month of October, but can be used all year round.
This initiative dates to 1981, when the federal government created American Energy Week. The U.S. Department of Energy transformed this into a month-long event in 1986. On September 13th, 1991, President George Bush proclaimed October as Energy Awareness Month to promote public awareness of our nation’s energy needs and the energy options that are available to us. Value has been added to this initiative with the creation and approval of the Energy Policy Act in 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007. As a result, federal facilities have incorporated more energy efficient measures throughout the years.
Powering possibility
The 2023 Energy Action Month theme is “powering possibility,” this continues to build a three-year theme. It is important to point out Air Force installation energy vision: Mission Assurance through Energy Assurance. The energy assurance approach is resilient-forced, mission-centric, water-inclusive and climate-informed. Developing energy resilience solutions can improve our energy and water infrastructure to respond and recover from utility disturbances while ensuring the function and capability of operations.
Energy conservation plays a major role in our energy resilience. With conservation, we can plan for a more robust infrastructure and make informed decisions for future energy demands. Each person’s actions have a ripple effect on our energy dependence.
What is energy conservation and why it is important?
Energy conservation is achieved by minimizing energy consumption. This is achieved through conscious human decision and action, not to be confused with energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is defined as using technology requiring less energy to perform the same function (LED bulbs, smart controllers, upgrading appliances, etc.). On most occasions, energy efficiency requires homeowners to make an investment toward current technology. Energy conservation has little to no cost to your pocket. Making energy conservation habits can have numerous benefits. The most important benefits include:
Lower energy cost. Lighting accounts for approximately 10 percent of electricity consumption in households. In commercial building, lighting accounts for approximately 25-40 percent of electricity consumption.
Less harm to the environment. Burning fossil fuels creates emissions that enter the environment and create a greenhouse effect. This traps heat and makes the Earth’s temperatures unstable and contributes to climate change. According to a survey by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the estimated annual CO2 emissions is 14,020 pounds per household, assuming approximately 943 kWh per month.
How can you help decrease energy use during the winter season:
Emphasize the importance of proper radiator settings. Start with thermostats at 64 °F, and then increase by one degree each day until you find a temperature your family or co-workers are comfortable with, taking into consideration infants and elderly family members. If this is a hard task because of day-to-day responsibilities, follow these three rules:
1. During occupied hours, set indoor comfort heating temperature to three, approximately 68°F.
2. During unoccupied hours, set indoor comfort heating temperature to one, approximately 55°F.
3. Set low transient areas (hallways, stairwells, restrooms, etc.) and high to moderate physical activity areas to one, approximately 55°F.
Proper ventilation of rooms. Ensure all windows are closed, dedicating time during the day to ventilate indoor spaces. It is recommended to ventilate each room for three to eight minutes in the morning and in the afternoon as fresh air is needed for a healthy building.
Clearance around radiators. Ensure all radiators are free and clear of large furniture.
Weatherization of doors and windows. To minimize heat waste, we encourage you to perform a visual inspection of your home for air leaks around windows and doors.
Decrease energy use on a day-to-day basis:
- Turn off lights when not in use or when natural daylight is sufficient.
- Turn off monitors at the end of the workday. Enable the power management function on office computers, automatically putting monitors to sleep when not in use.
- Turn off office equipment when it is not needed at night or on weekends. Activate sleep settings on all printers, copiers, fax machines, scanners and multifunction devices so they automatically enter a low-powered sleep mode when inactive.
- Turn off power to computers, TVs, exercise equipment, lights and all electronic devices when not in use to avoid wasting standby power.
- Plug multiple devices into a power strip with a surge protector so you can turn them all off with the flip of one switch, while also protecting them from damage.
- Use water wisely and turn off when not in use, such as while brushing teeth and shaving. Keep watch for water leaks and repair as needed.
- Utilize carpools, public transportation or a bicycle if possible.
These tips can easily be translated from your household to your workplace, and vice versa. Educate the people around you to help conserve energy and advocate for energy efficiency at the Kaiserslautern Military Community. Most importantly: if you do not need it, do not use it. Small changes can have a large impact over time.
For more information, please email the 86th Civil Engineer Squadron Engineering Flight at 86CES.CENPE-EnergySection.CEN@us.af.mil or visit the resources below.
https://www.safie.hq.af.mil/EnergyActionMonth/
https://www.energy.gov/femp/national-clean-energy-action-month
https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/save_energy_commercial_buildings/ways_save/checklists
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Put away your portable air conditioning units for those long summer days and take out your space heater. Or better yet, let me tell you about a few tips on how to use conventional radiators. Every October, the Department of the Air Force empowers installations to bring attention to energy use and how to better manage resources. We encourage Airmen and civilians to create habits guided toward energy conservation. It is important to emphasize these habits are not only for the month of October, but can be used all year round.
This initiative dates to 1981, when the federal government created American Energy Week. The U.S. Department of Energy transformed this into a month-long event in 1986. On September 13th, 1991, President George Bush proclaimed October as Energy Awareness Month to promote public awareness of our nation’s energy needs and the energy options that are available to us. Value has been added to this initiative with the creation and approval of the Energy Policy Act in 2005 and Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007. As a result, federal facilities have incorporated more energy efficient measures throughout the years.
Powering possibility
The 2023 Energy Action Month theme is “powering possibility,” this continues to build a three-year theme. It is important to point out Air Force installation energy vision: Mission Assurance through Energy Assurance. The energy assurance approach is resilient-forced, mission-centric, water-inclusive and climate-informed. Developing energy resilience solutions can improve our energy and water infrastructure to respond and recover from utility disturbances while ensuring the function and capability of operations.
Energy conservation plays a major role in our energy resilience. With conservation, we can plan for a more robust infrastructure and make informed decisions for future energy demands. Each person’s actions have a ripple effect on our energy dependence.
What is energy conservation and why it is important?
Energy conservation is achieved by minimizing energy consumption. This is achieved through conscious human decision and action, not to be confused with energy efficiency. Energy efficiency is defined as using technology requiring less energy to perform the same function (LED bulbs, smart controllers, upgrading appliances, etc.). On most occasions, energy efficiency requires homeowners to make an investment toward current technology. Energy conservation has little to no cost to your pocket. Making energy conservation habits can have numerous benefits. The most important benefits include:
Lower energy cost. Lighting accounts for approximately 10 percent of electricity consumption in households. In commercial building, lighting accounts for approximately 25-40 percent of electricity consumption.
Less harm to the environment. Burning fossil fuels creates emissions that enter the environment and create a greenhouse effect. This traps heat and makes the Earth’s temperatures unstable and contributes to climate change. According to a survey by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the estimated annual CO2 emissions is 14,020 pounds per household, assuming approximately 943 kWh per month.
How can you help decrease energy use during the winter season:
Emphasize the importance of proper radiator settings. Start with thermostats at 64 °F, and then increase by one degree each day until you find a temperature your family or co-workers are comfortable with, taking into consideration infants and elderly family members. If this is a hard task because of day-to-day responsibilities, follow these three rules:
1. During occupied hours, set indoor comfort heating temperature to three, approximately 68°F.
2. During unoccupied hours, set indoor comfort heating temperature to one, approximately 55°F.
3. Set low transient areas (hallways, stairwells, restrooms, etc.) and high to moderate physical activity areas to one, approximately 55°F.
Proper ventilation of rooms. Ensure all windows are closed, dedicating time during the day to ventilate indoor spaces. It is recommended to ventilate each room for three to eight minutes in the morning and in the afternoon as fresh air is needed for a healthy building.
Clearance around radiators. Ensure all radiators are free and clear of large furniture.
Weatherization of doors and windows. To minimize heat waste, we encourage you to perform a visual inspection of your home for air leaks around windows and doors.
Decrease energy use on a day-to-day basis:
These tips can easily be translated from your household to your workplace, and vice versa. Educate the people around you to help conserve energy and advocate for energy efficiency at the Kaiserslautern Military Community. Most importantly: if you do not need it, do not use it. Small changes can have a large impact over time.
For more information, please email the 86th Civil Engineer Squadron Engineering Flight at 86CES.CENPE-EnergySection.CEN@us.af.mil or visit the resources below.
https://www.safie.hq.af.mil/EnergyActionMonth/
https://www.energy.gov/femp/national-clean-energy-action-month
https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/save_energy_commercial_buildings/ways_save/checklists