Reducing energy, saving money one bulb, faucet at a time

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Scott Saldukas
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Laughlin's 47th Civil Engineer Squadron recently kicked off another energy and money saving project to follow executive orders in place to reduce water consumption and energy.

The order states that each installation must reduce water consumption by two percent each year and energy consumption by three percent annually until 2020. To meet that requirement, the 47th CES here has begun changing light bulbs and faucets reducing Laughlin's energy footprint.

"The bulb and faucet change out is part of a base-wide project to increase efficiency of the equipment we use every day," said David Morin, 47th CES. "The process began in early 2010 when we had a contractor conduct a base-wide audit of our facilities."

He said the audit identified equipment that was less efficient than current standards and was then were able to create a design package to begin the process of improving the situation.

"The project is projected to save $75,000 annually," said Capt. Joshua Ills, 47th CES. "This equates to 856,000 kilowatt hours of energy and 200,000 gallons of water saved per year. The 856,000 kilowatt hours are the same amount of energy contained by 23,000 gallons of gasoline."

Ills explained that by the end of the project, about 11,270 light bulbs, 429 faucets, 126 shower heads, 10 toilets, two urinals, 1,162 square feet of window tint and one pool cover will be changed.

Morin said the new equipment is an upgrade that will allow the base to be more efficient and bring them closer to meeting their energy and water reduction goals.

"Beyond the Air Force mandates to reduce energy and water consumption, it is important in these times to save as much money as we can," he said. "Savings we can have from energy can be used for other things. Everyone knows that most of our energy is derived from limited resources, but, it is also becoming apparent that water is a valuable resource and needs to be used effectively."