USDA Headquarters Green Team January 2008 Updates
Food Service
Greening
the New Year Event.- South Cafeteria
The USDA Headquarters Green Team, the BioPreferred Program, and the Sustainable Operations Council hosted an exhibition on "Greening the New Year" in the South Building Cafeteria on Thursday, January 31. On Thursday February 7 there will be an exhibition outside the Whitten Building Cafeteria.
Greening the New Year' is intended to educate USDA personnel in steps they can take to live and work in a more environmentally sustainable way, The event also highlights steps the agency is taking to make USDA green.
Ron Buckhalt’s BioPreferred Products information table and Dr. Pat Millner’s Compost table were a big hit at the South Building Cafeteria Greening the New Year Event.
As part of this event, patrons learned about the BioPreferred Program and about the implementation of BioPreferred cafeteria-ware products in the cafeterias. Dr. Pat Millner of the Agricultural Research Service in Beltsville demonstrated how the compostable food service products from the cafeteria (food trimmings from the kitchen and the compostable food trays) are being returned as "earth friendly" soil amendments. Showing how the loop is closed, Dr. Millner displayed compost made from our cafeteria waste being used to grow vegetables.
In addition to learning about BioPreferred Products, employees were able to sample new organic snacks (Albert’s Organics) that will be introduced in the USDA cafeteria starting in February.
“Green” Chef will visit the South Cafeteria: Sodexho has announced that on February 15 (from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m.), Guest Chef, Charles Braun will serve an organic selection from the Chefs table in the South Building Cafeteria.
Energy and Water Management
On December 19, 2007, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 was signed to law. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 has many provisions that will increase energy efficiency at the headquarter buildings including following requirements:
• Use a green building certification system (such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEEDs) green building certification;
• Use energy efficient equipment for replacements;
• Purchase appliances requiring less than 1 watt of stand by power; and
• Purchase Energy Star or FEMP designated energy efficient products
A complete synopsis of the provisions of the Act that will impact federal agencies has been compiled by Sandy Morgan, ARS Energy Manager. The synopsis can be seen by linking here: http://greening.usda.gov/SummaryEnergyIndependenceSecurityAct2007.pdf
Energy Saving Tips USDA Staffs Are Saving Money and Reducing Environmental Impact at the headquarters complex. We have received many tips on reducing energy and waste in the headquarters complex. Many of these have resulted in substantial savings. If your office is over-lit, you have incandescent task lights, or you have malfunctioning equipment that is causing energy or water waste, contact the WASC Hotline (202-720-6858.)
Jeff helping out by replacing his incandescent task light bulbs with new energy efficient compact florescent bulbs in Office of Communications offices.
Dual Flush Valves Pilot Project: The Operations staff is piloting the use of dual flush valves to determine their effectiveness in reducing our water usage. The dual flush valves were installed in the Tail House Restrooms in the 1400 corridor. These flush valves have been installed in Europe and have resulted in significant water usage savings.
The green handle is an anti-microbial coating.
Electronic
Stewardship Program
Graph of Electric Use Profile for the Headquarters Complex over 24 hours for January 25, 2008 on 15 minute intervals. Peak usage 6.1 megawatts (MW), after-hours usage 3.3 MW.
We are making head way in identifying who is using electricity after-hours. During the weekend and at night, the Headquarters Complex consumes electricity at a whopping 3.3 megawatts per hour. That is enough electricity to power over 2,000 homes. Preliminary data shows that computer rooms, data centers, server rooms and the cooling systems that support these areas are the primary electric users after-hours. Personal computers, monitors and printers left on after-hours are also a significant electric load. USDA over the last several months has begun to implement the first steps necessary to meet the OMB requirement for the relocation of all agency and staff office electronic applications and storage network hardware to consolidated data centers. Not only will consolidation save energy, but according to the Office of the Chief Information Officer, this will also save payroll, hardware and application expenses. Agencies are currently working on their Migration Plans, which are due in March 2008. Migration Plans for the larger agencies are to be completed by the summer of 2009.
By Executive Order, USDA is required to enable Energy Star features of personal computers. Enabling these features on all the thousands of computers in the Headquarters Complex will significantly reduce our electric consumption and costs. Currently USDA staff is preparing a Policy Guidance Memo on Enabling Energy Star Features on Computers.
ARS IT staff recently met to discuss the Electronic Stewardship Program. The IT staff was updated on the new mandates related to electronic stewardship, including power management. There was a discussion on how IT staff can reduce operational costs in our facilities. Using a typical computer mock up, we tested power consumption from its “Awake” mode and the “Asleep” mode. We determined that there is a significant cost impact if the computers do not have optimal settings.
Sandy Morgan (ARS Energy Manager) working with ARS IT staff in monitoring the electric usage of computer components at various operation modes. Mark Sajbel (OPPM, USDA’s Electronics Stewardship coordinator) looks on.
Recycle/Waste Reduction News
In the interest of sustainable operations, the Headquarters Departmental copier and duplicating services is now, by default, printing on both sides of the paper (duplex) unless otherwise instructed by the customer. This now applies to all staffed copy centers and the central Duplicating Center (located in room 0556-S). Customers using self-service walk-up stations are encouraged to use duplex printing whenever possible. The implementation of this practice will reduce paper consumption and improve energy efficiency.
On average headquarters staff uses over 15 tons of white paper each month.
Recycling for January: For the month of January, Headquarters staffs recycled more than 40 tons of paper, cardboard, commingled containers, and wet-waste from the cafeteria. This represents a rebound from December. Details on the recycling rates are found on the USDA Headquarters Green Team Website. ( http://www.usda.gov/da/HQs_GreenTeam/ )
Sustainable Landscaping
USDA Headquarters grounds can be managed in a sustainable manner that demonstrates USDA missions and policies. A sustainable landscape at the Whitten Building can help revive the Chesapeake Bay, provide habitat for pollinators, minimized sanitary sewer overflows in our waterways, and save energy and water while looking attractive. On November 30, landscape professional and students from the region took part in a design charrette. The outcome of the design charrette will be concept landscape plans that will be part of a new sustainable landscaping Master Plan for the Headquarters Complex.
The
Final Report for the Sustainable Landscape Design Charrette has been
posted on the USDA Headquarters Green Team website, http://www.usda.gov/da/HQs_GreenTeam/WhittenCharretteFinalReport1-25-08.pdf
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