Understanding energy intensity, local incentives help reduce resource usage Published Oct. 12, 2011 By Caroline Ward 27th Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- The Air Force tracks energy usage and reduction by calculating the energy intensity of bases. Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. uses this as the metric to measures its progress in an effort to meet reduction mandates. What is your personal energy intensity level? In other words, how much electricity, natural gas, petroleum products and other resources are you personally responsible for consuming daily? At home, reducing your personal energy "footprint" could save you money. At work, reducing energy consumption would greatly help Air Force Special Operations Command meet its aggressive Air Force facilities target of 3% reduction per year. First, you should identify a common denominator for energy. Here are some basic energy and fuel conversion factors. A British thermal unit is the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water, about a pint, one degree Fahrenheit. That's close to the amount of heat generated by one "kitchen" match. For your personal energy audit, assume there are 3,413 BTUs in a kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity; 1,020 BTUs in a cubic foot of natural gas; and, 114,000 BTUs in a gallon of regular gasoline. For transportation, calculate the average number of miles you drive each day and divide by the gas mileage of your personal vehicle. On your job, identify what "plug loads" you personally use such as electrical equipment, computers, monitors, backup power supplies, lamps and fans. The energy managers at your installation have completed a similar exercise for the building you work in that includes not only your personal equipment, but central heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems. You can also examine your energy consumption at home in a similar fashion. Look at your monthly energy bill and convert it to BTUs, then divide by the number of square feet of floor space in your home. This result provides your "energy intensity" ratio in BTUs per square foot for your home. Now you're beginning to establish your personal energy "baseline", both at home and at work. Following Cannon's efforts you now have a general idea of your energy consumption and can begin contributing to the greater effort by saving not only BTUs of energy, but also dollars. Now that you have an idea of how much energy you use, you can start practicing measures to reduce your consumption. If you get your electric bill from Xcel Energy, you're eligible for a free air leak survey for your home. Xcel Energy will test for air leaks in your house and attic and then use weather-stripping, caulking, and other low-cost measures to fix the leaks. Then they will re-calculate the energy savings from repairing the leaks by conducting another leak test. Xcel Energy customers can also recycle old refrigerators for $75, if they have had a new, energy efficient replacement in use for two months. For lighting, try to purchase Energy Star-rated compact fluorescent lights to replace old incandescent bulbs. These tend to have a longer life and use a fraction of the energy. If you have old CFLs or tube fluorescent lights, you can take them to ACE Hardware to be disposed of. These bulbs contain mercury and are very harmful to the environment when not disposed of properly. Water conservation is also vital to our region. If you get your water bill from New Mexico American Water and you think you have leaking toilets, faucets, or pipes, call American Water customer service center at 800-678-6301 for a water leak detection kit to help you identify leaks. In addition, you are eligible for the following rebates: $150 rebate to replace high-water use toilets (pre-1995) with a water-efficient toilet (1.6 gallons or less per flush) $150 rebate to install a high efficiency clothes washer Up to $800 for changing your landscape from a turf lawn to a low-water-use lawn with native plants Please visit New Mexican American Water for more information on these rebates. These are just a few of the ways you can reduce your energy and water consumption, and with a little help from your utility provider, you might even get a rebate for it! Saving energy and water are very important to ensuring Air Commandos have the resources to live and carry on missions at Cannon in the future.