Department of Energy Management Awards - 2002 Award Winners
Outstanding Individual Effort
Kathie Nell
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
Idaho Falls, ID
208-526-0682
During FY 2001, Kathie Nell creatively reinvented employee and public awareness programs for energy and water conservation at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. Ms. Nell's actions included authoring a monthly newsletter and distributing it to all 6,000 employees. She also developed a traveling display for public events featuring DOE energy and water conservation achievements and INEEL conservation programs. Ms. Nell organized the design and construction of a working, table-top model demonstrating passive solar and photovoltaic technologies. Both the display and the solar model were well received by the public at Earth Day and other community events. Ms. Nell's efforts have resulted in increased employee appreciation of in-house conservation measures and interest from the public in DOE programs.
Wayne Shigley
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
Idaho Falls, ID
208-526-1986
In the late 1990s, the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) began plans to replace an aging warehouse on the INEEL site with a new, modern facility in Idaho Falls. Wayne Shigley, Infrastructure Program Manager for the Department of Energy Idaho Operations Office, saw an opportunity to install a transpired solar collector in support of the Million Solar Roofs Initiative. Mr. Shigley worked tirelessly to secure funding for the initial cost, based on the potential for life cycle cost savings and demonstration value. He successfully convinced the project team, who were new to the technology, to design a transpired solar collector to passively pre-heat the fresh air supply. In addition, Mr. Shigley worked with the INEEL energy management office to add an instrumentation package to track the performance of the system over time. The building was completed in May 2001, and the instrumentation package was installed in August 2001. The total energy cost savings is $12,500 and 945 million Btu per year.
Small Groups
Maurice Ball
Steve Barstatis
Steve Dixon
Gregory Gilbert
Duane Plant
Fermilab
Batavia, IL
630-840-4448
The Fermilab Pumping Retrofit is an innovative solution to reduce energy associated with primary cooling water used to temper the Low Conductivity Water system to the MI accelerator. It uses synchronized 2-speed motor operation at various pumping locations to address both level and temperature parameters. This solution precluded concerns over the use of VSDs with their associated RFI and harmonics in close proximity to ultra-sensitive accelerator control systems. It also improved maintenance and operations by ameliorating excessive control valve throttling effects.
Ernest L. Fossum
Richard J. Horsley
Marshall G. Knight
Mike Nitzel
Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
Idaho Falls, ID
208-526-2513
Since the construction of the Engineering Research Office Building, Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory energy management engineers have worked closely with the Building's facility engineer to develop and implement projects that incorporate energy-efficient technologies into existing systems and to further enhance the performance of the original building design. Projects have included installation of occupancy-sensing lighting controls, analysis of HVAC systems to optimize energy performance, and in a significant operational change, the janitorial shift was moved from the night shift to the day shift so that the building could transition to a fully unoccupied mode for a greater period of time. DOE's Departmental Energy Management Program provided funding to complete these projects. These efforts ultimately save more than $23,000 and more than 1 billion Btu per year and qualified the Engineering Research Office Building for an Energy Star Label for Buildings certification, which signifies not only energy efficiency in the building, but also tenant comfort and productivity.
Katharine Gabor
Blair Horst
Dick Quigley
John Sarginson
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Livermore, CA
925-422-8965
Using an innovative water conservation and cost-savings concept, DOE's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Plant Engineering Instrument Shop and Energy Management Program saved an estimated 72,600 gallons of water per year through their Drain-Down Recovery Project. LLNL's project team came together to prevent water waste during the repair of heat and cooling water circulating systems. The team's drain water recovery strategy allows the reuse of most building system water and corrosion - and scale - inhibiting chemicals. The concept of the project is simply to collect drain-down water and return it to the system following repairs, rather than waste it down the drain. The project realized savings in three areas: the cost of water and the costs of anti-corrosion and scale inhibiting chemicals, which total more than $9,000, and reduced labor costs by $52,600. With a payback period of just 3 months, LLNL's project effectively conserves water conservation, prevents pollution, and reduces maintenance costs.
Bernard Avon
Joseph Kanosky
National Energy Technology Laboratory
Morgantown, WV
304-285-4649
Joseph P. Kanosky and Bernard M. Avon have been leaders for the National Energy Technology Laboratory's (NETL) energy management activities. They have been instrumental in implementing strategies to reduce energy consumption through designs for new construction, maintenance programs, relamping programs, outreach programs, and communications to the NETL employees through the intranet and the NETL newsletter. The two have developed energy efficiency leadership goals, energy and fuel usage goals for ISO 14001 certification, and a new energy management performance agreement with the Federal Energy Management Program. They have also incorporated sustainable design principles into the design for two new NETL administrative buildings so that upon completion the two new buildings will meet the requirements for the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star designation and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design's designation.
Jeffrey A. Lettau
Mike J. Moran, Jr.
Jim Roberts
Keith Shields
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA
509-372-2680
The grounds team at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) applied state-of-the-art grounds management techniques to maintain the landscaping surrounding the PNNL campus. PNNL conserved approximately 114 million gallons of water by using the latest technology to gather data on watering systems, using best-practice landscape methods, monitoring soil moisture, and fertilizing only with chemicals required. In addition, PNNL saved approximately 1.5 million gallons of water and avoided almost $3,000 in waste water fees from the city. The facility also avoided sending water into the sewer system, which avoided sewer costs of $33,000. The innovative thinking of this team, which has included the use of predictive water flow models and soil analysis, has yielded substantial environmenta, energy, and cost benefits.
Arc Berman
Lori Freeland
Jeff McCullough
Mike J. Moran, Jr.
Curt Nichols
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA
509-376-2971
DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has made conservation and energy efficiency key elements of its facility energy management plan. As part of their Plan, PNNL challenged staff to reduce electricity use by 10 percent from the previous year. Over a three month period, metered electricity use in several office buildings was compared with figures from the previous year. A contest was devised and staff were given tips and guidance on how to accomplish the reductions in their buildings, which range from World War II construction to more modern designs. Results exceeded expectations and two of the buildings reduced electricity consumption by 37.8 percent during the contest period. Savings equated to $16,400 and more than 1.4 billion Btu.