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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

2010 Department of Energy Management Award Winners

The Department of Energy Management Awards recognize staff for their outstanding contributions toward energy and dollar savings at DOE facilities and field organizations. Winners of the 2010 DOE Management Awards include:

Exceptional Service Award

Frank Brown
Bonneville Power Administration
Seattle, Washington

Frank Brown has worked for DOE more than 30 years and has been with Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) since 1981. In 1996, he became the manager of the Federal Agency Energy Efficiency Program, working to help Federal agencies in the Pacific Northwest improve energy efficiency. Mr. Brown maintains program flexibility that allows agencies to receive services ranging from design assistance to turnkey implementation. He has drafted several utility energy service contracts (UESCs) and interagency agreements that provide Federal agencies access to the program's resources, each customized to meet individual agency requirements. In fiscal year (FY) 2009, Mr. Brown took on the additional responsibility of being the Energy Efficiency Representative for all Federal agencies served by BPA and the Federal Sector Lead for BPA's Energy Efficiency Group, overseeing the completion of 53 projects resulting in savings of more than 103 billion Btu and 2 billion gallons of water. By the end of the year, the Federal Program had the largest dollar amount of active projects in its history, as well as the largest pipeline of funded projects to be implemented in future years-proof of Mr. Brown's tireless efforts to find new opportunities and his true dedication to energy efficiency.

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Multiple Category Awards*

Bonneville Power Administration
Federal Agency Energy Efficiency Program
Seattle, Washington

The BPA's Federal Agency Energy Efficiency Program focuses on identifying, developing, implementing, and reporting energy efficiency projects with regional Federal agencies. Through a combination of strategies and tools, the program helped agencies meet energy and water management goals while also helping BPA meet its conservation requirements and provide clean, renewable energy to the region at low rates. In FY 2009, the program worked with its own BPA sites and five other Federal agencies to complete 53 energy and water efficiency projects, including lighting upgrades, direct digital controls installation, chiller replacements, pipeline conversions, and low-cost/no cost project implementation. The program also assisted agencies with surveys, designs, and studies for solar and wind projects. The completed projects saved more than 103 billion Btu and 2 billion gallons of water in FY 2009. This equates to total cost savings of more than $3.4 million for BPA and the agencies combined.

Office of Legacy Management
System Operation and Analysis at Remote Sites (SOARS)
Washington, DC

The Office of Legacy Management (LM) manages remediated sites contaminated by uranium production, weapons production, and research. In FY 2009, LM began implementing System Operation and Analysis at Remote Sites (SOARS) to obtain real time data to evaluate progress of remediation. SOARS collects data from 16 sites in nine states and transmits the information to servers in Grand Junction, Colorado, accounting for significant reduction of travel to remote sites. Energy savings of 29 million Btu have resulted from reduced travel and early detection of operating problems, and groundwater treatment reliability has increased leading to faster remediation of contaminated aquifers. In FY 2009, SOARS reduced travel to sites by 37,000 miles, saving about 1,900 gallons of fuel. Photovoltaic systems at the 16 sites generate 2.6 megawatt-hours per year to power the instruments and communications equipment, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Sustainable Campus Initiative
Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) established its multi-disciplinary sustainable campus initiative to provide a support structure for its sustainable technology efforts and a comprehensive sustainable vision of ORNL operations over the next 10 years. In FY 2009, the team benchmarked ORNL sustainable practices and metrics and developed a 2018 roadmap for the campus. Documented results include ORNL's one million square feet of energy-efficient, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified campus space; 60 megawatt-hours of renewable energy, including three solar collectors; and a net-zero-energy building goal with one of four buildings transformed. ORNL increased its square footage by 35% with only a 6% increase in energy consumption compared to FY 2000. Its growing alternative vehicle fleet used 84,000 gallons of bio-based fuels in FY 2009. Water conservation projects saved 63 million gallons of water and $104,700. Thirty additional sustainability projects saved 17 million kilograms of waste, resulting in costs savings of more than $8 million.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory
Princeton Site Office
Lyman Spitzer Building Renovations
Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) implemented a comprehensive energy management program and building renovation protocol to completely renovate interior spaces of the 118,000 square-foot Lyman Spitzer Building (LSB) with all sustainable materials. This effort required several years of research and interaction with manufacturers to implement long term contracts and supplier relationships to ensure proper implementation and performance objectives. The project also implemented a number of energy and water efficiency improvements, including variable drive controls, improved building automation, and building commissioning evaluations. These efforts saved approximately 297 million Btu, 397,000 gallons of water, and $6,600 in FY 2009, resulting in an annual reduction of more than 28 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Going forward, all building renovations will continue to use entirely sustainable materials, providing proper indoor environmental quality, recycled content and recyclability, and energy and water management.

Michelle Brooks
Frank Brown
Tom Osborn
Kathryn Patton
Dick Stroh
Bonneville Power Administration
Bureau of Reclamation Dams and Irrigation District Initiative
Seattle, Washington

BPA has worked with the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) since 1995 to complete energy-efficient projects that will not interrupt dam operations. In 2007, BOR also granted permission to BPA's Federal Agency Energy Efficiency Program to begin contracting directly with the Federal Powered Irrigation Districts (ID) in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho on energy efficiency projects. In FY 2009, BPA completed lighting retrofits at three BOR dams and three ID pumping plants, and installed a variable frequency drive to improve the pumping efficiency of a BOR pumping plant. The program also converted to pipeline or lined more than 55,000 feet of irrigation canal at three IDs in the Columbia River Basin, saving both water and energy from reduced pumping. Together, the Federal Program's efforts saved almost 12 billion Btu of electrical energy and more than 2 billion gallons of water annually. These projects result in more efficient use of hydropower, reducing the region's reliance on fossil fuels.

Blair Horst
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Berkeley, California

Blair Horst has contributed significantly to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (LBNL) sustainability vision, performance, and planning. Mr. Horst was responsible for several important initiatives in FY 2009, including managing the rollout of the sustain LBL Web site. He implemented a duct sealing project (which used an LBNL-developed emerging technology), installed efficient condensing boilers, and implemented no-cost energy saving measures that saved almost 19 billion Btu and $1.2 million, avoiding about 1,200 metric tons of carbon dioxide. He recommended adjustments to cooling tower water treatment systems that saved about 11.3 million gallons of water and $8,700 in costs-drastically improving LBNL's water use intensity by 12.5%. Mr. Horst also initiated a multi-laboratory arrangement to construct a third-party financed utility-scale photovoltaic project at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Once complete, the planned project would provide 384 billion Btu of electricity to be shared by four San Francisco Bay Area DOE laboratories.

*Multiple Category projects may include Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency, Renewable Energy, and/or Fleet Management

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Programs that Implement Effective Energy, Water, and/or Fleet Management

Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne Site Office
Energy Savings Reinvestment Program
Argonne, Illinois

Argonne National Laboratory implemented an in-house energy savings reinvestment program in FY 2009 to complement its aggressive energy savings performance contract (ESPC) program. The new program completes energy and water saving projects using internal engineers and technicians or small contracts to achieve quick savings. Projects are identified by Argonne's multi-disciplined engineering team and the mechanics who maintain the campus buildings and utility plants. Savings are measured, verified, and reported to Argonne's budget office. The budget office then provides recurring funding equal to the amount of utility cost savings to reinvest in additional projects. Argonne continues to use ESPCs for efforts that require large amounts of capital funding and outside expertise, but the reinvestment program demonstrates that significant savings can be achieved by tapping the expertise of Argonne's own personnel. In addition to a $3.9 million ESPC project completed in FY 2009, 14 in-house projects resulted in savings of more than 31 billion Btu and 4.4 million gallons of potable water, and avoided 5,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide. Thirteen more projects are underway in FY 2010.

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You Have the Power Energy Champions

Dr. John Barnett
Dr. Michael Helwig
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Golden, Colorado

International Twenty-First Century Citizenship is being shaped by leaders like Dr. John Barnett and Dr. Michael Helwig of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, who traveled with Department of Defense teams to military bases in Afghanistan and the Arabian Peninsula to assess the provision of energy and water to expeditionary forces. Recommendations to reduce battlefield reliance on imported fossil fuel and water include energy efficiency best practices; solar water heating; solar PV electricity; smart micro-grid projects; onsite water wells; and improved vehicle fleet management. Implementation can potentially reduce convoy needs by as much as 50%, saving American taxpayers millions of dollars each month and further protecting the safety and security of American troops deployed overseas.

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