Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea -- To commemorate Energy Action month, the 51st Civil Engineer Squadron is challenging Team Osan to find the best energy conservation solutions during the 5th Annual Energy Cup competition.
Facility managers across base are encouraging their building occupants to effectively reduce energy consumption, hoping to shatter last year’s mark – saving approximately $172,000.
“The competition is a great way to increase awareness in conserving energy and water on the base,” said David Moysey, 51st CES resource efficiency manager. “This competition is fair for all-sized facilities, because each facility’s current energy consumption is compared to the same facility’s consumption during the same time period in the previous fiscal year.”
Last year’s competition was close, resulting in three facilities sharing bragging rights as the overall winners. Although the COVID-19 global pandemic greatly attributed to energy reduction measures, the winner’s best practices indicate they were more than capable of making their historic conservation efforts.
The 51st CES Structures shop reduced total energy consumption by 30 percent. Their main tactic was ensuring lights weren’t being misused during off-duty hours. Also, a light sensor installation project from 2014 attributed to their consumption goal.
The 51st CES fire station reduced their heating fuel consumption by 50 percent. This was accomplished by closing fire truck bay doors throughout the winter season.
The 51st Force Support Squadron Pacific House Dining Facility reduced electricity by 13 percent and heating fuel by 23 percent. This dining facility managed to outmatch other dining facilities in terms of energy consumption per square foot. Besides efficiently controlling the lighting in the dining rooms with lighting sensors and light-dimming capabilities, this facility also eliminated some cooking equipment and now constantly run only one fryer instead of two.