Naval Support Activity Bethesda (NSAB) was awarded the 2016 Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Energy Achievement Gold Level Oct. 12.
“SECNAV has an award system to incentivize installations to reduce their energy consumption; it’s not just electrical it’s steam usage, water or just about any kind of fuel that can be consumed as an installation,” said Luke Armstrong, installation energy manager. “We have an interest in reducing those amounts because it saves financial resources.”
Even though NSAB was awarded the platinum level for energy efficiency for fiscal year 2015, there has been continued energy efficiency throughout this past fiscal year.
“For 2016 we scored within the gold range, which denotes a very good energy program,” said Armstrong. “Although gold is a very noble achievement, we did drop one ranking. For this year’s award we are tracking a 40 percent energy reduction, which coming off a platinum year is still a significant amount. We are currently leading the region in energy reduction for the third quarter of the year.”
NSAB is working to get back to platinum.
“We always want to maintain excellence and strive to be the best energy program in the entire Navy,” said Armstrong. “Our aspiration is to achieve the highest energy award level.”
NSAB has saved taxpayer dollars by going green. In fiscal year 2016, NSAB saved $16 million through its energy-savings measures as well as taking advantage of Pepco incentive programs that promote energy conservation.
“NSAB has really sunk our teeth into it,” said Armstrong. “If we feel like we can save energy on this project then we are applying for those incentives to further promote the viability of projects on NSAB. It is one of the reasons you see so much construction going on when you do, because we were able to capture that funding, which makes our project a little more competitive in the region.”
Some missions don’t allow NSAB and its mission partners to be as energy efficient as possible, but there are still ways to improve.
“In areas that have high usage needs, there are some options,” said Armstrong. “For example, if a mission in [Walter Reed Bethesda] needs an exact amount and quality of water, then that is what they need to have; but we can have the restrooms use rainwater when the toilets are flushed. We can find other areas that produce savings that do not impact the mission.”