Small shop produces large results for energy savings

Published Oct. 28, 2011
By Airman 1st Class Dan Gage
90th Missile Wing Public Affairs

F. E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- As October comes to a close, and with it, Energy Awareness Month, Warren continues making improvements to its facilities in an effort to conserve energy.

Throughout the year, members of the 90th Civil Engineer Squadron's controls shop and the Energy Management Control System are constantly looking for ways Warren AFB can reduce energy usage across the base.

"Our goal is always to save energy," said Debby Followell, the controls shop and EMCS Shop foreman. "We're constantly looking for energy saving programs and products."

In 1995, the controls shop began installing the WebCTRL system, which makes Warren stand out in energy conservation; not only in Air Force Global Strike Command, but throughout the Air Force.

The control system was installed in-house and allows the controls shop to operate and maintain all of the components with only three technicians in the work center.

"Doesn't sound like much, but the system monitors 136 buildings and controls more than 13,000 points of energy use on base," Followell said.

With WebCTRL, the EMCS operators monitor the heating, cooling and energy use of the base 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can identify problems arising in real time through the use of varying types of control modules.

"If a problem does arise, the EMCS operators can notify the appropriate work center and help direct maintenance workers to the area causing the issue. This allows for quick response thus preventing possible equipment damage," said Followell.

Throughout these buildings, schedules are in place to shutdown unnecessary equipment during unoccupied times, cutting consumption by up to 23 percent.

To further energy savings, the climate in buildings are controlled - right down to the individual room based on use.

Beginning this week, the three person crew began installing controls on 168 blower coil units throughout the base to monitor and regulate heating and air conditioning of individual rooms.

Wattstoppers are also being installed to control energy usage in these rooms. Wattstoppers turn off lights and fans when an area is unoccupied for an extended time. Wattstoppers work off of motion and when a person re-enters the room, everything returns to normal operation. Also, rooms used for storage are kept at a cooler temperature to conserve energy.

EMCS also monitors weather on base from the weather station that the controls shop installed. They use the information gathered from this weather station to adjust energy usage. Heating and cooling systems operate based on outside air temperature.

"We do not want heating when it is 75 degrees outside, nor do we want cooling when it is 50 degrees unless it is a critical temperature controlled area," Followell said.

The controls shop is also installing controls on the base irrigation systems, which in-turn allows the EMCS section to control watering by repetition and duration, based on the needs of different areas on base. EMCS also has the ability to turn the irrigation system off during rain fall, saving water. Another advantage of irrigation monitoring is the ability to identify a broken line by the use of flow meters.

"When a system is off and should have zero flow and you have flow reporting, you have a problem," Followell, said. "We're a small shop but we play a big role in saving energy here. If there's an area where we can conserve energy, our job is to find the most energy efficient means available."