By Melanie Chaballe, Mark Fricke and Corinna Fritz
USAG Stuttgart Directorate of Public Works
Operations & Maintenance
October is Energy Action Month. This year’s theme is “Energy resilience enables Army readiness”.
The Army is working hard to secure critical missions on our installations by providing necessary energy and water. This will not be easy, nor free, but every one of you can help lowering the implementation cost. How? By decreasing our needs. The less we consume, the less we pay of course, but also the less backup we will need.
There are many things you can do on a daily basis that will help decrease the energy and water consumption, both at work and at home.
First of all, stop the waste!
Make sure you are not wasting energy by turning off everything you are not using. Turn lights off when you leave the room, turn TVs and monitors off when you are not watching them, turn off or even unplug any appliance that is not being used. Most of appliances will continue to use electricity in standby mode!
Energy Action Month also applies to water conservation. The first step in reducing our water footprint at work and at home is to be watchful for potential water leaks. Dripping water taps will not instantly have a big effect on the bill but will gradually increase the consumption, which can add up to thousands of gallons/liters within a year. Last but not least, also keep an eye on your appliances (e.g. dishwasher) to highlight leaks as soon as possible.
Every little thing you save will decrease our overall consumption and so will decrease our backup needs. Following these tips will give you the opportunity to help us reduce the overall energy consumption and increase the garrison’s resiliency.
This is what the Energy Action Month is all about, working together as a team to increase the garrison’s energy resilience and also to remind us that energy is a mission enabler and a force multiplier for a ready and resilient Army.
Energy Action Month: Use energy wisely!
“Energy resilience enables Army readiness” is the theme of this year’s Energy Action Month.
Ensuring energy and water supply to mission critical facilities is one of the Army’s top priorities. Living, working or accomplishing a mission without energy or resources can be hard or even impossible. By reading this you start thinking of backup solutions such as backup generators, batteries, renewable energy, etc. True, but it all starts with energy and water conservation. Why? Because the less you consume, the less backup you will need to accomplish the mission.
There are so many things you can easily do to save energy and water with very little impact on your daily routine and comfort, both at work and at home.
As winter arrives, a lot of savings can be done with heating. Close doors and windows and check the seals around them. Program your thermostat to 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) in occupied working and living spaces and check that the unoccupied times have a lower temperature set point. If you decrease your set point by 2 degrees Fahrenheit (or by 1 degree Celsius), you will decrease the energy consumption by about 8%!
When you purchase new appliances, look for Energy Star or European Label A (or better) products. They sometimes cost a little bit more but they can save up to 30% compared to conventional equipment. They will also use less power in standby mode. And even if you have energy efficient appliances, use them wisely and wait to have full loads of laundry or dishes for example.
Millions can be saved by reducing the energy and water consumption at the Garrison level. The less we consume, the lower the bills, but also the less backup infrastructure we will need to implement and pay for.