Plus, Sign The Pledge, And Then Change That Bulb

by Ron Hall, Office of Communications

We USDA employees know that this Department has an expansive mission, consists of a variety of employees, covers a great amount of territory, occupies a number of office facilities--and, in the process, uses a lot of watts of electricity to get the job done.

So USDA recently unplugged. Literally.

It was all part of a challenge to see what USDA employees at headquarters locations in the Washington, DC metropolitan area could do to reduce electricity consumption, save energy, and bring down utility costs--specifically, during normal off-duty hours in the evenings and on weekends. Titled the "Headquarters Complex Energy Reduction Challenge"--or, in shorthand, "USDA Unplugged"--this effort asked each employee to turn off and unplug all non-critical office equipment both on Wednesday, October 17 and again for the weekend of October 19-21. The purpose was to gauge how much electricity might be saved as a result--and, in the process, demonstrate the role that this Department's employees might be able to play in energy conservation.

So, what brought all this on? And why now?

"We recently did a study here at headquarters and found out that the energy use in our USDA office facilities has been on an upward trajectory for the past few years, both during the normal work day and during off-duty hours as well," explained Ed Murtagh, the Acting Deputy Chief of the Washington Area Service Center in the Office of Operations. "And even more dramatic, there has been a rise in energy costs in much of the nation, due to really big increases in electricity rates."

"So, as a result, for at least the last two years USDA had to take money from its Operations and Maintenance Fund to pay for headquarters energy usage instead. That, of course, meant there'd be less money available to address routine maintenance, minor repairs, and other work that we'd normally use to improve the quality of our USDA workplace."

Accordingly, USDA executives and specialists brainstormed on this matter and came up with the "USDA Unplugged" challenge. "The idea," noted Ed Hogberg, the Energy and Environmental Manager in OO, "was to request of headquarters employees that--before they left their office spaces at the end of the work day on the designated dates--they turn off such office equipment items as overhead lights, desk lamps, computer monitors, desktop computers, printers, scanners, copiers, window air conditioning units, and space heaters--and also that they actually unplug office items that continue to use some electricity even after they've been turned off." Those include cell phone chargers, BlackBerry chargers, and computer speakers, plus any personal convenience items in the workplace such as radios, TVs, microwaves, and coffee makers.

"We publicized the event," he added, "by use of e-mail messages to all headquarters employees, through posters in common areas around the headquarters office complex, by hanging vinyl banners, promoting the event, over the entrance of the Whitten Building and in cafeterias here at headquarters." In addition, on October 17 Assistant Secretary for Administration Boyd Rutherford left a voice mail message on the phones of all headquarters employees, encouraging them to participate in "USDA Unplugged."

That's nice. But was all this just a 'feel-good' exercise, or did it actually accomplish anything?

"It certainly did," replied Hogberg. He noted that USDA's energy managers, who specifically measure the usage of electricity, relied in part on the results of an 'infrared imager' that they had used in September to survey the headquarters buildings. They specifically wanted to identify wasted energy that occurs at the facility after-hours and on weekends, due to the window air conditioning units that are inadvertently left on in the office during those periods. That helped to provide them with some baseline data needed to measure improvements. The energy managers then monitored the energy use for those 'challenge periods' and then compared that usage to similar time frames in both prior years and in recent days.

"They found," Hogberg affirmed, "that employees in the Whitten, South, and Yates Buildings, here at headquarters, did reduce the use of electricity by 9,000 kilowatt hours--in the off-duty hours of Wednesday, October 17--and by 24,000 kilowatt hours--over the weekend of October 19 to 21. We estimated those two particular cost savings to total almost $3,000."

"To put that into perspective," added P.V. Alexander, OO's electrical engineer, "11,000 kilowatt hours is enough electricity to power an average U.S. home for a year. So we calculate that, during this challenge, USDA employees saved enough electricity to power approximately three homes for an entire year."

"And--to repeat--that was based on only one weeknight and one weekend."

Alexander added that, if those savings were annualized--in other words, if USDA employees continued that level of 'unplug/turn off' in their headquarters office spaces every time they finished their workday, for 52 weeks--the Department would realize savings as high as $330,000 per year, or enough electricity savings to power the equivalent of 220 homes a year.

In a related effort, on October 9 Rutherford sent an e-mail to all USDA employees at headquarters and field locations, inviting them to participate in a governmentwide campaign titled "Change a Light, Change the World." It was an effort to encourage federal employees to change the light bulbs in their residences with energy efficient bulbs, as "an easy step each one of us can take to conserve our energy resources while saving on energy bills."

In his e-mail he encouraged USDA employees to replace at least one conventional light fixture or light bulb with a more energy efficient product, to include compact fluorescent bulbs and Light-Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs.

"Recently," he had noted, "over 40 incandescent light bulbs, in and around the Secretary's reception area, were replaced with energy efficient bulbs, saving over 900KW hours per month, which is equivalent to the monthly electric consumption of a single family home."

To encourage participation, during five days in October USDA headquarters employees staffed an 'energy awareness outreach/information table' at which they encouraged fellow employees to sign a pledge that they would, in fact, make such an energy-saving replacement in their residences.

And the results? "Over 500 employees stopped by during those five days--and over 100 of them signed our pledge sheets," noted OO Contract Services Supervisor Marian Romero.

Alright. Now, there are an estimated 10,000 USDA employees at headquarters sites in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. But we have about 90,000 USDA employees at field locations both across the country and around the world. So will USDA's field employees have the opportunity to initiate their own localized versions of "USDA Unplugged" or "Change a Light, Change the World"?

"To get the most accurate 'meter-measurement' out of a 'USDA Unplugged' effort," replied Charles Johnson, USDA's Facilities, Energy, and Water Program Manager located in the Office of Procurement and Property Management, "those USDA field facilities need to have so-called 'advanced meters' that provide access to peak and off-peak use measurements by the hour. But we definitely want to encourage these initiatives at our field offices, no matter what kind of meters those offices have."

The results of "USDA Unplugged" and related efforts build upon activities that USDA employees at headquarters and field locations have already initiated to reduce the use of electricity at their office sites. Several such initiatives were spotlighted in the July-August 2006 issue of the USDA NEWS in a story titled "Creative Things We've Done--At Our USDA Worksites--To Conserve Natural Resources."

For instance, as noted in that earlier story, Forest Service employees on the Bighorn National Forest in Sheridan, Wyo., had installed a device called the "VendingMiser" on the soft drink machines in their office buildings. Bruce Kjerstad, an FS civil engineering technician on the Bighorn NF, who had installed the devices, had said it's a motion sensor and a controller that attaches to the back and top of a vending machine.

"After 15 minutes of inactivity," he had explained, "the VendingMiser shuts down power to the vending machine. But if someone walks by the vending machine and thereby 'alerts' the motion sensor, the device sends power to reactivate the machine. The device also makes sure that, even if there is no office foot traffic for extended periods of time--such as during the weekend--the soft drink machine turns on every one to three hours so the sodas stay cool." During autumn 2005, personnel with FS's Rocky Mountain Region had purchased 30 Misers at $140 each for use throughout the Region. They had estimated that the Misers would pay for themselves in just over nine months, at the energy rates at the time, with an energy savings of about 63 percent.

Fast forward to February 2007 in which Departmental Administration staff in Washington, DC ordered VendingMisers for use in a pilot test of several refrigerated beverage machines installed in the Headquarters Complex.

The results? "They're installed in the Whitten, South, and Yates buildings here at headquarters," Hogberg replied. "Calculating the estimated savings at $200 per machine per year, and the initial capital investment of $3,400, within six months the annual savings of $6,400 offset the cost of installation."

Second, the Forest Service has pioneered the use of solar powered trash compacters at some of its facilities. According to Hank Kashdan, FS's Deputy Chief for Business Operations, these devices use sunlight to automatically compact trash at the point of disposal, thereby increasing capacity by four to five times that of ordinary trash receptacles.

"The 'BigBelly' trash compacter uses solar power and has a large trash storage capacity," he explained. "They keep litter in and animals out; they promote clean air because they save three out of four collection trips, and that reduces annual vehicle emissions while saving time and fuel; and they promote clean energy by demonstrating renewable energy technology." Jacqueline Myers, FS's Associate Deputy Chief for Business Operations, added that the agency has installed 'BigBellies' at several national forests around the country.

Third, within the past few years USDA employees at headquarters and field locations have, on their own initiative, developed "Green Teams." "Their purpose," explained Anna Jones-Crabtree, the Sustainable Operations Coordinator for FS's Rocky Mountain and Northern Regions, "is to pragmatically implement various measures that would reduce a local USDA office's 'environmental footprint,' if you will. Green Teams are very 'place-based'." In addition, the Green Teams are encouraged to publicize their success stories, such as the use of VendingMisers, in order to encourage their use, as appropriate, at additional USDA office locations.

"Small yet pragmatic actions at a local USDA office might not seem like a lot," she acknowledged. "But collectively, when added up Departmentwide, they can be pretty significant."

Fourth, in June 2007 the Department established a USDA Sustainable Operations Council, chaired by Rutherford, to coordinate and promote the Department's sustainable operations for its facilities, fleets, and daily activities at headquarters and field locations. Sharon Holcombe, Chief of OPPM's Energy and Environment Division, said that the Council is being supported by four working groups of employees to promote USDA efforts in the areas of green purchasing, environmental management systems, facilities, and transportation. Additional information about these activities is at www.greening.usda.gov .

"Look," Murtagh emphasized, "USDA is the second largest landholder in the federal government. We occupy about 89 million square feet of office and lab space. We operate over 23,000 buildings around the country. We manage about 193 million acres of land. We procure over $4 billion a year in goods and services. We operate a fleet of over 46,000 motor vehicles and other light and heavy motorized equipment. Now, if this large Department can operate in a more sustainable manner resource-wise, that'll help reduce our reliance on petroleum-based products, plus mean big benefits to the environment."

"So that means we really need to keep engaging USDA employees in their office spaces, to make this all work."