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    MCAS Beaufort; conserving energy one day at a time

    SC, UNITED STATES

    05.31.2013

    Story by Cpl. Brady Wood 

    Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort

    MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. - The Public Works office aboard Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort has been working hours on end to make the Air Station a more energy conservative installation.

    During their effort in making the Air Station more energy efficient, the office came across some discrepancies that needed attention.

    "One day we went across base before starting our project," said Neil Tisdale, the energy and utilities manager for MCAS Beaufort. "We ended up finding that one of the hangars was completely empty yet air conditioning was running and all the
    lights were on."

    Public Works determined the lights exhausted too much energy. To solve this problem, they installed high-intensity fluorescent lights which use significantly less energy and unlike the old lights, take no time to warm up.

    During phase one of their project, which is called the Energy Savings Performance Contract, they gave 30 buildings aboard the Air Station ground-source heat pumps, applied lighting controls, tied the barracks into the main chiller plant, which is what makes the cold water for air conditioning, and they merged controls with what is called the Energy Management & Control System.

    During phase two of the ESPC project, they applied thermostats to the barracks so that Marines and sailors can either heat or cool their room while they are occupying that space.

    "The reason this is more efficient is because we were able to save about 5 percent of our electricity," said Tisdale. "Getting the occupants to turn on the [air conditioning] themselves is easier because it was almost impossible to keep up with the schedule of every single room and very labor intensive."

    During phase three of the ESPC project, they replaced all the 32-watt incandescent lighting with 25-watt fluorescent lights in 45 buildings aboard the Air Station, added low flow shower heads, sink aerators and flush valves in 99 buildings.

    "We also put our Direct Digital Control system, which is another acronym for our EMCS, into 12 additional buildings," said Tisdale. "We also replaced seven of our chillers that were giving problems with more energy efficient chillers, and over at the Bachelor Officer's Quarters we added another chiller to help the ice storage system."

    The ice storage system is a piece of equipment that takes cold water not used during off-beat periods, such as at night, and stores it in the form of ice, said Tisdale.

    According to energy.gov, a couple ways to save money and energy are by turning things off when you are not in the room such as lights, TVs, entertainments systems and your computer and monitor.

    Also lowering the thermostat on your water heater to 120 degrees fahrenheit can save you money and energy.
    On a daily basis the Public Works office is reducing the amount of energy the Air Station uses while keeping everything operational.

    For more information contact Neil Tisdale at 228-6317, or go to energy.gov.

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 05.31.2013
    Date Posted: 05.31.2013 10:54
    Story ID: 107846
    Location: SC, US

    Web Views: 71
    Downloads: 0

    PUBLIC DOMAIN