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It’s December, which means everyone is
looking forward to a few well-deserved days away from work. This is also the
time of year when administrators are preparing for the legislative session to
start, and naturally, the #1 topic is
the budget. Executive orders have already gone out for state agencies to reduce
spending immediately. All state organizations have been warned to plan
accordingly to be able to withstand a significant budget shortage. I don’t want
anyone’s efforts to fail because of their utility spend. Conversations should
be occurring to ensure your organization is operating as efficiently as
possible and energy managers should be sharing tips with all employees on how
to minimize utility waste. Everyone, from top administrators down, should be
aware of how the organization is operating to maintain efficient use of
utilities. Send out email reminders to all employees to shut down miscellaneous
power items over the holidays (radios, phone chargers, task lighting, monitors,
etc.). With the mild weather days, this is the time to verify efficient
operations. It is very difficult to save on utility usage when the temperature
is in the 90s or in the 20s, but when the temperature is 60° outside you usually have more options. If you make energy usage a priority, then your organization
may be able to avoid a surprise utility bill that is much higher than
anticipated. Wasting energy is just like throwing money away, so start conversations
now and get everyone thinking about how to save.
Craig Cherry
Director, 20x2020
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Due to the holidays and varying end-of-year schedules, ES2 will not be presenting webinars this month. While the regular schedule will resume in January, don’t miss the opportunity to watch these on-demand webinars provided by the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). FEMP helps organizations save energy and demonstrate leadership through responsible energy choices. Two helpful online sessions are highlighted below, or you may browse the full FEMP training library online.
You will be required to login before viewing the webinars. If you have challenges in creating an account, please email either Morgan Miller or Stepfanie Shaulis for assistance.
Rethinking O&M in High Performance Buildings
This webinar covers engagement programs for key stakeholders, including building owners, operators and occupants, in the design, construction and operation of energy efficient facilities. Viewers will find out about a cyclical process that involves stewardship, performance and enabling tools and metrics that result in refinements and continual improvement.
Energy Efficient Product Procurement
This webinar discusses resources available from the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) and ENERGY STAR to help identify and procure energy efficient products. While state agencies and institutions are typically not subject to the federal purchasing requirements, these resources simplify the process of making informed purchasing decisions for any organization. Resources include life cycle energy consumption data based on government tests of equipment from a variety of manufacturers as well as specification templates.
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The January energy manager webinar is titled, “Assessing the Effectiveness of Your Building Automation.”
Building automation systems (BAS) offer energy managers and building operators unparalleled control over their occupant comfort and energy use. Unfortunately, many organizations do not currently take the time to analyze their BAS in order to identify potential issues and to ensure that their BAS is performing as intended. Simultaneous cooling and heating, steam leaks and faulty set-points can result in large amounts of energy waste. However, they can be identified and corrected by observing the data available from the BAS.
In this month’s webinar, maintenance staff and energy managers will be introduced to some of the potential signals that indicate an operational issue exists and will be shown how to use trend data in order to make more informed energy management decisions. Please invite your BAS (or facility maintenance) staff to participate.
Organizations that have issued a purchase order to ES2 in order to enroll in the behavioral program are invited to register for this month’s energy manager webinar. Please register at least one hour in advance of the webinar.
Logistics:
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20x2020 Upcoming Dates
Please mark your calendar:
January
- Jan. 21 | 2-3 p.m. | ES2 Energy Manager Webinar
February
- Feb. 29 | Q4 Project Exemptions Due
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This November, Governor Fallin hosted the 5th annual Governor’s Energy Conference in coordination with the office of the Oklahoma secretary of energy and environment. Governor Fallin and her team convened diverse stakeholders from the public and private sectors to share information, highlight innovation and discuss the future of the energy in Oklahoma.
As an attendee, one might have initially had cause for concern with the language being tossed around. Referring to the recent economic troubles in the energy industry, one speaker noted that “The days of abundance are over.” However, these expert panelists could hardly be characterized as anything but optimistic overall. Several speakers throughout the day reiterated that difficult economic years are the best time to focus on increasing the efficiency of operations. With reduced cash flow comes the need for greater innovation in how problems are approached.
Governor Fallin used the conference as an opportunity to recognize one state agency that has fully bought into the idea that investing effort in behavioral energy efficiency can reduce operational costs – the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality. Governor Fallin awarded to DEQ the very first State’s Energy Efficiency Initiative 20%x2020 Award in recognition of their efforts, led by their energy managers and champions. In presenting the award, Governor Fallin explained that “By instituting energy savings best practices in their agency, they have been able to save 21.5 percent of their energy costs since 2012.” Governor Fallin went on to say that this “translates into big dollars for state government... especially when you’re having a budget shortfall” because now we “can save that money and use it for other things.”
The governor also recognized that many other agencies are working toward this goal as well and stated that these are “the kind of best practices that we hope all of state government will do.”
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Project exemptions are due Feb. 29, 2016, for billing period quarter four of CY 2015. Organizations must submit exemptions on any specific projects that have resulted in energy savings that they would like to remove from ES2’s fee calculations. Any project completed between Oct. 1, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2015, must be submitted by Feb. 29, 2016, to be considered for an exemption.
For a complete submission, please submit each request through the online form and email IPMVP-adherent supporting documentation to 20x2020@omes.ok.gov. Further information is available in the online instructions.
If you have any questions about this process, please email 20x2020@omes.ok.gov.
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You don’t have to act like Scrooge or the Grinch during the holidays to manage your energy. With each gathering of family and friends you have the opportunity to use your work habits and find fun ways to be frugal. And what happens then? Well, in Whoville they say that the energy savings grow three sizes that day….
Tips for Entertaining
- Opening your oven door for just a few seconds can lower the temperature inside of the oven by 25°F. Instead, try turning on your oven light when you need to check how your dishes are coming along. Baking more than one item at a time can further reduce the amount of energy necessary to cook your favorite meals.
- Pick peripheral devices for your prep work: Consider using your microwave for melting chocolate, steaming veggies or reheating your midnight snacks. This uses substantially less energy than a stovetop or oven.
- Only run full loads when using your dishwasher and set to “air dry.”
- With extra bodies in the house putting off heat, set the thermostat at 66-68°F to start. If people are chilly you can always bump up the temperature by a degree or two.
Decorating Tips
- If you use lights to decorate, set a timer to turn them on at 7:00 p.m. and off after you go to sleep to save significant amounts of energy. If you don’t have a timer, plug your lights into an outlet that you can easily reach in order to turn them off.
- Use candles and reflective surfaces, such as mirrored decorations, to help illuminate the room instead of opting for more bulbs.
- Many home improvement retailers run special “light exchanges” which offer up to $5 per string of old lights to put towards LEDs. Not only do LEDs use less energy, but they can last for up to 20 years. Visit your local store or look online for details.
Happy Holidays from ES2!
If you have any questions or ideas on tips to
share, please contact Morgan Miller of ES2 at mmiller@es2ok.com or 405-528-4500.
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