The Belvoir Eagle

By Julia LeDoux
Special to the Eagle

Fort Belvoir is constantly looking for ways to save money on its energy costs, and not just during October, which is recognized as Energy Awareness Month on the national level.

“We’ve done a lot of conservation awareness programs at FortBelvoir over the last six or seven years, mostly based on capital projects,” said Randy Smidt, an energy engineer contractor to the Directorate of Public Works for SpecPro.

Capital projects included the installation of more energy efficient lighting, boilers and air conditioners in buildings throughout the post. Work began on the effort in 1999 and all the equipment was installed by 2001. Pepco Government Services provided the funding for the project, which is paid back through $550,000 in energy savings, which the project achieves on an annual basis. FortBelvoir has a total annual utility budget of $13 million, according to Smidt.

Energy efficient lighting has also been installed in many of the installation’s buildings, he continued.

“They have been put in probably 99 percent of the buildings,” Smidt said. Some buildings that do not have long operating days did not have the lighting installed. The new bulbs are responsible for a 25 percent reduction in the electrical load from lighting.

“The more efficient lamps are pretty much standard now under the Energy Policy Act,” he said.

Smidt is currently developing a new energy awareness program in cooperation with installation facility coordinators and building energy monitors.

“We’re actually trying to go back now and concentrate again on energy awareness,” Smidt continued.

The program will encompass everything from reminding people to turn off lights and computer monitors when they go home for the evening.

“Anytime a room is not in use for more than 15 minutes, you should turn the lights out,” he said.

Smidt also urged people to call in service orders to KIRA if they see streetlights on during the day or if their building is overheating or overcooling, depending on the season.

“It’s really just being aware of what energy you’re using,” added Smidt.

The Army recently embarked on the development of a new energy strategy and campaign plan which will set the general direction of the program for the next 25 years, Diane Devens, Installation Management Agency director for the Northeast Region wrote in a memo earlier this year.

“Awareness plays a key role in reducing consumption and eliminating energy waste by making users more energy conscious and should be strongly emphasized at all levels,” she wrote on March 31.

In a Sept. 23 memo, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey noted that the Department of the Defense is the nation’s largest user of energy.

“The Army is the largest utilities consumer and therefore we must be the leader in energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy products and emerging technologies,” he wrote.