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Welcome from the CSO
Welcome to the March edition of Sustainability Spotlight! It has been a season of big sustainability wins for DOE. In January, ten projects totaling over $18.6M in funding were selected for the Assisting Federal Facilities with Energy Conservation Technologies (AFFECT) awards. DOE led agencies in awards for the first time since the establishment of the program, in 1992. Additionally, DOE won three Federal Energy and Water Management awards. I would like to extend a huge congratulations to all the participants and recipients! DOE is leading the charge on sustainability, and I’m pleased to see our efforts acknowledged.
Our March Spotlight provides insight into how sites can meet Executive Order (E.O.) 14057 zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) goals. In December, Deputy Secretary Turk issued a memo to maximize DOE’s ZEV acquisitions. Heads of Departmental elements must review justifications for non-ZEVs and have final sign off on ZEV acquisitions. DOE’s performance is improving with a projected 59% ZEV acquisition of light duty vehicles for FY2024.
DOE has submitted a draft of the 2024 Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP) to the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The CAP contains an assessment of climate risks to DOE’s facilities and workforce and an implementation plan to build resilience at the Department.
While DOE continues to address the various sustainability goals, the pace, scale and scope needs to increase. We will need to leverage our appropriations as well as alternative funding mechanisms, such as AFFECT, ESPCs and UESCs. The Sustainability Performance Office (SPO) will continue to collaborate with your programs, FEMP and other organizations to fully use these mechanisms and share best practices for success.
I look forward to seeing many of you at Energy Exchange 2024, which is being held in Pittsburgh, PA on March 26-28. Be sure to join SPO's no-host sustainability happy hour on Wednesday, March 27th at 6pm. You'll find more information about the conference, sustainability happy hour, and how to register below.
I also want to congratulate Craig Zamuda, our Director of the SPO, on his retirement, and his remarkable federal service career. Craig not only made a huge difference for the Department’s sustainability and climate change programs but helped a lot of people along the way.
It is great to see that we have started the year strong and are continually establishing ourselves as the Sustainability Leader among federal agencies.
With appreciation,
Ingrid Kolb
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Bringing Large-Scale Carbon Pollution-Free Electricity (CFE) to the Southeast
Two of DOE's most energy-intensive sites, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex (Y-12), recently partnered with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for deploying a game-changing amount of clean electricity. Deputy Secretary David Turk and TVA President and CEO Jeff Lyash signed the MOU in December to formalize the collaboration.
The MOU commits DOE and TVA to building a roadmap to meet the Administration's goal of achieving 100% CFE with 50% on a 24/7 basis by 2030. While initiated by the DOE two sites, the MOU states that the roadmap will ultimately cover other Federal facilities in the TVA's service area.
TVA is the nation's largest utility and second largest power supplier to the federal government. TVA was founded as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal in 1933 to bring infrastructure, economic development opportunity, and utility service to the region. Its service area covers all of Tennessee and portions of six other states, from Mississippi to Virginia.
Cleanup to Clean Energy
Since Secretary Granholm launched the Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, progress has been made towards increasing clean energy production by potentially utilizing thousands of acres of DOE land for developers to provide new emissions-free electricity projects that could be exported to the national grid. In implementing these strategies, DOE is collaborating with multiple stakeholders, including other federal agencies, tribal nations utilities, and regulators.
E.O. 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, directs agencies to “facilitate new carbon pollution-free electricity generation and energy storage capacity by authorizing use of their real property assets, such as rooftops, parking structures, and adjoining land, for the development of new carbon-pollution free electricity generation and energy storage through site use agreements, grants, permits, or other mechanisms, to the extent permitted by law.” Pursuant to the E.O. and statutory authority, DOE has conducted “Information Days” and issued Requests for Qualifications (RFQ) at Hanford, Idaho National Laboratory, Nevada National Security Site, and Savannah River Site to solicit proposals from entities interested in entering into long-term realty agreements to develop CFE on federal lands. DOE's Waste Isolation Pilot Plant is scheduled to issue its RFQ next month. DOE plans to award these agreements in 2024.
CFE Gains in New Mexico
The Foxtail Flats Solar and Storage Project, approved by Los Alamos County (LAC) on March 5, 2024, will be the largest CFE Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in DOE and represents a significant step forward in NNSA’s transition to a clean energy future. When fully operational at the end of calendar year 2026, the project is expected to provide 170MW of photovoltaics (PV) and 320MWH of battery storage to be shared by LAC, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), and Kirtland Airforce Base (KAFB). Most of the project’s power resources will be used by LANL, SNL, and KAFB (i.e., the DOE and LAC power usage ratio is roughly 4:1). The project will be constructed on Tribal land near the closed San Juan Coal Plant northwest of Farmington in New Mexico and expected to be operational by the end CY2026. The PPA has a 20-year term and is a firm fixed price for PV and battery energy and it is lower than the current Western Area Power Administration issued PPA for SNL/KAFB. There is no escalation in the prices over the life of the PPA. The power will connect to the transmission system at the closed coal plant and use the LAC existing interconnection agreement, which was in place because part of the coal plant was owned by LAC. Read the LAC press release here.
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Net Zero Buildings: Electrification Baseline
The Sustainability Performance Office (SPO) is determining the Federal Building Performance Standard (Federal BPS) baseline for all applicable buildings and facilities within DOE’s portfolio. The baseline represents the applicable facility floor area measured in gross square feet (GSF) for federally owned, Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) covered facilities with scope 1 emissions in standard building operations as of October 21, 2021, and facilities constructed after October 21, 2021. CEQ’s Federal BPS requires agencies to cut energy use and electrify equipment and appliances to achieve zero scope 1 emissions in 30 percent of their buildings by square footage by 2030. In the coming weeks, SPO will begin reaching out to the programs to get updated information on planned electrification retrofits and new construction projects.
For more information, please contact Tameka Taylor or send your inquiries to the Sustainability Inbox with the subject line: “Federal BPS Baseline”.
Effecting Change with AFFECT
Congratulations to DOE’s 2023 AFFECT BIL winners! Owing to the Department’s commitments to leading the way on sustainability, nine DOE sites won a total of ten awards – 32% of awards Government-wide! DOE recipients included:
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Forrestal Federal Building; Upgrade more than 86,000 square feet of windows with thermally efficient double‐pane, low‐e secondary windows.
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Savannah River Site (two projects); Replace outdated chillers supporting critical buildings and install a 10-MW photovoltaic (PV) solar array and battery energy storage system.
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Brookhaven National Laboratory; Assess the potential for a large-scale heat recovery system to meet the site's heating needs.
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National Energy Technology Laboratory; Incorporate energy efficiency upgrades, including a potential 260-kW solar array and battery energy storage.
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Western Area Power Administration; Create a holistic roadmap for net-zero building development, including rooftop solar, energy-efficient windows, and HVAC improvements.
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Grand Junction Field Support Center; Advance deep energy retrofits, building automation systems, geothermal heat pumps, electrification, on-site renewable energy, LED lighting, and water conservation.
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Hanford Site; Replace evaporator diesel-powered boilers with electric boilers for a new electric steam plant.
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Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory; Implement energy conservation measures including a geothermal system to achieve a fully electrified and net-zero emission facility.
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SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory; Reduce lighting energy by approximately 90% with new and improved efficiency LED fixtures with improved luminary properties, dimming, and timed shutoff.
The funding announcement represents the first of three disbursements from the historic $250 million in funding for the AFFECT program in President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. FEMP will begin accepting applications for the second round of AFFECT in the spring of 2024. Participants will have three months to apply. Program offices and sites are encouraged to engage in the program to drive clean, healthy, and resilient DOE operations. In February, SPO hosted an AFFECT webinar with lessons learned from several sites that received AFFECT grants and will host an additional session addressing how to submit a successful application. If your site has questions or is considering applying to AFFECT in 2024, contact SPO and sign up to FEMP Digest to receive training and AFFECT program notices.
Saving Time (and Energy) with ESPCs
In January, SPO hosted an Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) webinar where FEMP gave an overview the ESPC ENABLE program and Fermilab (Fermi) presented an ENABLE project it is developing, consisting of net-zero, CFE, and resilience measures. Fermi highlighted lessons learned from the acquisition process and collaboration between the M&O and site office.
ESPCs are projects that leverage private sector financing to make energy and water improvements to federal facilities with little to no up-front cost to the government. A typical ESPC using DOE’s IDIQ procurement vehicle can leverage anywhere from $5M to $50M+, take 18-24 months to award, and result in significant energy and/or water savings – not to mention upgrades to aging DOE facilities. Using a separate contract mechanism run by GSA, the ENABLE program streamlines the process by narrowing the project scope to as many as six prequalified ECMs (including solar PV) and reduces the award timeline to 6-12 months. ENABLE projects are usually less than $10M.
As Fermi highlighted, DOE ESPCs face some unique challenges including low electricity rates and the M&O structure. However, many DOE sites have developed best practices and lessons learned to overcome or manage these hurdles. Owing to the dedication and creativity of DOE’s federal and M&O staff, the Department has leveraged more than $600M in external financing over the last 25 years, implementing projects from $300k to $150M.
If your site has challenges with an existing project or is considering a new project email SPO for support.
Zero Emissions Vehicles
DOE's ZEV Acquisition Policy
The Department’s goal is to transition to 100% ZEV vehicles acquisition. On December 14, 2023, Deputy Secretary Turk issued a memorandum to accelerate the Department’s ZEV transition and require Heads of Departmental Elements to approve the replacement of vehicles, including any exceptions to ZEV orders. DOE is now projecting that 59% of its light duty vehicle acquisitions in FY 2024 will be ZEVs. Fleet Managers will continue to use the established process to order vehicles through GSA, which includes final concurrence from the Office of Management and use of the GSA-mandated system.
These actions will help DOE achieve E.O. 14057 goals of 100% light duty ZEV acquisitions by 2027, and all other vehicles by 2035. If you have questions about the acquisition process going forward, please contact sustainability@hq.doe.gov.
National Training Center's New EV Charging Stations
Consistent with government-wide initiative to move toward an emissions-free Federal vehicle fleet, the National Training Center (NTC) recently received two Ford F-150 Lightning trucks and has two more on the way. To support this transition, four charging stations have recently been installed outside of the NTC administration building, where government vehicles are parked. For insights about the process of installing these chargers, reach out to gpugh@ntc.doe.gov.
Photo Credit: NTC. A Ford F-150 Lightning charging at NTC’s new charging stations. Joe DellaLonga, Dean Chavez, and Jaime Harris (pictured) were instrumental in planning and executing the installation.
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FedFleet Recap
FedFleet 2024 is a unique, educational experience that assembles Federal fleet management professionals for a week of training. The 2024 conference took a significant leap towards sustainability by spotlighting the electrification of federal fleets. Numerous sessions highlighted innovative policies, strategies for fleet electrification, and new ZEVs. With over 50 DOE personnel in attendance, it served as a vital platform for engaging with industry experts, FEMP specialists, and researchers from NREL, all at the forefront of sustainable fleet solutions. This focus on electrification was further enriched by the EV Ride N’ Drive experience - allowing attendees to test the latest ZEV models. FedFleet is held in Washington, D.C. every January. If this conference would benefit your site’s ZEV adoption, reach out to your Program lead to discuss future attendance.
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Climate
DOE's Draft 2024 Climate Adaptation Plan
DOE has submitted a draft 2024 Climate Adaptation Plan (CAP) to CEQ. DOE leveraged site Vulnerability Assessment and Resilience Plans and Site Sustainability Plans to write the CAP. The CAP contains an assessment of climate risks to DOE’s facility and workforce and an implementation plan to build resilience at the Department, as well as describing DOE’s work in environmental and energy justice, engagement with Tribes, land management, and conservation. The CAP describes how DOE is using the Introduction to Climate Change (Climate 101) course to promote climate literacy across the Department. In addition, DOE is encouraging climate literacy through webinars for senior managers and staff. For example, on March 7th, SPO held a webinar on the Fifth National Climate Assessment (NCA) with Allison Crimmins (Director of the Fifth NCA), Craig Zamuda (lead author, Energy Chapter) and Kate Marvel (lead author, climate trends) for DOE management. While DOE is making progress, the pace, scale and scope of resilience activities needs to increase. CEQ will review the draft plan and provide feedback before the final plan is submitted to the DOE collaborative action process.
Y-12 Chooses Climate-Friendly Biobased Transformer Fluid
In 2020, Y-12 began a project to retro fill the site’s 20 electric transformers with biobased transformer fluid. Biobased transformer fluid decreases environmental risks, increases the transformer lifespan and efficiency, and contributes to fewer greenhouse gases than oil.
Traditional mineral oil transformer fluid comes with several hazard risks such as toxicity and low biodegradability. Comparatively, biobased transformer fluid is a natural ester dielectric fluid that is reclaimable and recyclable.
This retro fill project used 17,120 gallons of biobased fluid which saved Y-12 saved $171,600. Additionally, plants that are the source of biomass capture almost the same amount of CO2 through photosynthesis while growing as is released when the biomass is consumed, which can make biomass a carbon-neutral energy source. Click here to learn more about this project.
Photo Credit: Cargill Inc. A Vat of Biobased Transformer Fluid. Photo Credit: Y-12. A transformer at Y-12.
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Message from Our Director: It's Time!
I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know that I plan to retire in early April. Throughout my federal service, including over 34 years at DOE, the last few years working with you in the area of sustainability have been amongst the best. First and foremost, let me acknowledge the great leadership provided by my boss, our Chief Sustainability Officer, Ingrid Kolb. She is a true Sustainability Champion and an inspiring leader that has made my job so rewarding and enjoyable on a daily basis. I would also like to thank my excellent staff, who have made my job easy, due to their success in supporting you and your programs to lead by example on topics including CFE, ZEVs, GHG emission reductions, and climate adaptation. And, finally, let me thank all of you, who every day take on the many sustainability challenges that the Department and our country faces. It has been my honor to work with you all. While I will miss being part of the Department’s sustainability team, and working among the best and the brightest, I look forward to hearing about your continued progress in moving DOE forward as a sustainability champion.
Thank you!
Announcements
DOE Sustainability Dashboard – Now Open for FY24 Data Entry
The Sustainability Dashboard is now open for FY 2024! If your site has data issues for prior years, you can submit a change request under the appropriate category page on the Dashboard. A training video on submitting a change request can be found on the Supporting Resources section of the Dashboard.
Energy Exchange
We are excited to see a large DOE contingent at Energy Exchange 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! SPO has coordinated a no-host happy hour for the DOE sustainability community at Energy Exchange on Wednesday, March 27th at 6pm. Space is limited, please RSVP to sustainability@hq.doe.gov.
Energy Exchange provides training to support the development and implementation of solutions that can make the federal government a leader in the transition to a clean energy economy. The training agenda includes tracks focused on the Administration’s sustainability goal areas, financing projects, and resilience. Make sure to check out these sessions which support E.O. 14057 goals and feature DOE speakers:
March 26th
- Track 4, Session 1 “Decarbonization 101.”
- Track 9, Session 1 “Non-Carbon Energy Generation Solutions.”
- Track 3, Session 2 “EV Fleet Planning.”
- Track 5, Session 3 “Leveraging Climate Services for Decision-Making."
March 27th
- Track 4, Session 4 “How to Develop and Prioritize Electrification Efforts and Address the Federal Building Performance Standard.”
- Track 8, Session 5 “Best Practices to Design, Retrofit, and Operate Efficient Data Centers.”
- Track 3, Session 6 “The Rough Road to (ZEV) Adoption.”
March 28th
- Track 3, Session 8 “In It for the Long Haul: Supercharge Your ZEV Transition.”
- Track 4, Session 8 “Building Modeling to Inform Decarbonization Solutions.”
- Track 5, Session 8 “Mitigating Emissions and Advancing Resilient Buildings.”
- Track 8, Session 8 “Lightning Round of High Energy Use Facilities.”
In addition to training, several award winners will be announced at Energy Exchange. The Office of Sustainable Environmental Stewardship will be announcing the GreenBuy and GreenSpace awards and FEMP will be announcing its Federal Energy and Water Management awards. We welcome you to attend these awards events to honor the extraordinary work of our sustainability community!
Looking for more training? FEMP is hosting free and accredited pre-event workshops before Energy Exchange on March 25th. The sessions cover federal funding opportunities, resilient and secure infrastructure and facilities, fleet electrification, and more! The full list of sessions is available here.
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Sustainability Resources
The DOE Sustainability Dashboard is a great resource to find updated training, links to relevant sustainability statutes/orders, view your site’s historical data, and more!
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Do you have a story to share, or would you like to put a "spotlight" on a sustainability champion at your DOE site?
Send us an email at sustainability@hq.doe.gov |
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