Energy Management: the Coast Guard’s Shore Infrastructure Energy Program
Written by David Obermeier
CGF 2010 Volume: 2 Issue: 3 (July)
The Coast Guard Has Been Working To
Reduce Energy Consumption And Provide
Cleaner Alternatives To Power Production.
The Coast Guard’s new energy management strategy sets clear goals for energy efficiency and provides a framework to commission and manage the many grassroots conservation and renewable power generation efforts currently in progress or under development. While the strategic plan covers all aspects of Coast Guard energy use, including propulsion fuel purchasing and performance tracking, the most aggressive goals are related to reducing energy intensity, namely kilowatt-hours, per building square foot and increasing renewable energy generation at our shore facilities. The Shore Infrastructure Logistics Command, which encompasses the civil, ocean and environmental engineering programs along with contracting and logistics specialties, will be responsible for executing much of the energy strategy. The civil engineering program in particular has long been a leader in identifying and integrating energy conservation measures into new construction and major repair projects.
Many of the Coast Guard’s early shore energy conservation projects were necessitated by the remote location of stations and lighthouses, which required rainwater collection, day lighting and the use of innovations like the Fresnel lens to concentrate and direct light vice using a larger light source requiring greater fuel consumption. The Coast Guard initiated several renewable energy projects during energy crises of the 1970s, including two solar thermal systems for domestic hot water during construction of its base in Portsmouth, Va. The Coast Guard began installing solar photovoltaic panels at lighthouses and offshore aids to navigation in the 1990s to eliminate the huge expense of managing submerged power cables or offshore generators. More recently, the Coast Guard activated a landfill gas co-generation plant at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore and an 875KW photovoltaic solar array at the training center in Petaluma. There have been numerous smaller renewable energy success stories generated by motivated and innovative personnel who stretched their limited resources to enable the Coast Guard to be better stewards of the environment and future tax dollars.
While these renewable energy projects are exciting and in vogue, their overall impact on total energy use still pales in comparison to the potential savings brought on by behavioral changes and less glamorous energy conservation measures. Such measures include lighting retro-fits, variable frequency drives and variable air volume units for motors and HVAC systems, and direct digital control or programmable thermostat installation to control and monitor HVAC settings. At larger facilities, sub-metering individual buildings is critical to understanding energy use and measuring actual savings. Units all over the Coast Guard have implemented these measures using a combination of unit funds, federal energy efficiency funds, utility energy savings contracts and energy saving performance contracts. Several large units have recently entered into emergency load response programs with their local electrical grid interconnect, where the unit voluntarily sheds electrical load when the utility company anticipates an overload situation, in return for greater grid stability and a substantial credit on their energy bills.
On the behavior front, greater awareness and simple actions like shutting off lights and maintaining prescribed thermostat settings can save between 5 and 15 percent of total energy use. Although access to energy bills is available to Coast Guard units via the finance center’s intranet page, it requires manual data entry to obtain trends and historic benchmark information. This is expected to change soon, as the Coast Guard is working towards a Web-based application to make this information more easily accessible and useful. The energy program has also established a CG Portal Webpage that provides information, resources and updates on energy initiatives throughout the service. The energy portal page also provides a link to the new strategic plan mentioned above. Members within the shore infrastructure logistics community are excited about implementing this strategy and look forward to building on the momentum of the many innovative energy efficiency projects to date. ♦
David Obermeier, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Coast Guard, is based at the Integrated Support Command in Portsmouth, Va.