Space and Missile Systems Center officials save energy, money

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Mara Title
  • SMC Public Affairs
LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --  Most people would agree that saving energy, especially when it saves money and resources, is a good thing. But developing concrete ways to conserve and actually produce tangible results can often be difficult to accomplish. Ed Wilson, the energy manager at Los Angeles Air Force Base, and his team have managed to do just that by installing lighting upgrades and daylight sensors in buildings throughout the base.

The lighting upgrades, which primarily work off motion-occupancy sensors in the main office areas, corridors, restrooms and break-rooms are saving energy. Also, daylight sensors that pick up the amount of lighting that is coming from outside into the work space automatically turn off the perimeter lighting when not in use, which also saves money.

"A lighting project typically pays for itself in three to five years," Mr. Wilson said. "Not all projects have that same return on investment, but generally what you try to do is have a project that will return its cost within 10 years."

Several government mandates are driving the actions of Los Angeles and other Air Force bases.
Executive Order 13423, which primarily focuses on energy, demands a 30 percent energy reduction by 2015, using 2003 as the baseline year.
Los Angeles AFB is well on its way to achieving that goal. Executive Order 13514 focuses on water conservation and greenhouse gas emissions, and the requirement is to reduce emissions by 80 percent by the year 2050.

"That a sound like it's a long time away, but there's going to be a great deal of momentum that's needed to bring that process along and 2050 will be here before you know it," Mr. Wilson said.

Future projects Mr. Wilson and his team are working on include installing more photovoltaic panels on the roofs and ground-source heat pumps.

Among the conservation achievements that have made, Mr. Wilson said changing the culture has been the biggest improvement.