SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

I suggest that we work 10 hour days and have a 4 day work week. This would save the employee for gasoline for 5 days a week, and the office for expenses such as energy costs keeping an office open for 5 days a week. Some agencies are already doing this such as the legal department with the Army.

Annually we spend millions to light our Govt buildings when mother nature can do it for free. I used to operate a maintenance facility at Shaw AFB, BLDG 1720, that was equipped with skylights. Since we have ample sunlight in SC, this meant that I did not operate the maintenance bay lights for 9 hours almost everyday. Some of the newly built Walmarts use this same idea, next time you are shopping look up and notice... more »

Industry partners are taking advantage of an energy program they call load curtailment. In a nutshell, the load curtailment season runs from June to May typically, so we missed 2011. The company, agency in this case, would be given a sum of money to participate in this program by reducing energy use during peak periods when and if the power company requested the participant to do so. In the agreement, it allows the power... more »

Install motion detector lighting in offices to limit the amount of lights left on. Energy savings= money savings. In the hundreds of thousands of federal offices this would add up quickly.

Turn large Federal facilities and bases into self-sustaining power plants using green energy such as solar, wind, geothermal, etc. This creates jobs, stimulates the local economy for each large facility, stimulate green initiatives, save money and the enviornment. Excess power can be sold back to the local power companies or used to charge an electric Federal fleet of cars.

At Customs and Border Protection we sometimes have over a hundred counterfeit money orders in one shipment. Each name on the counterfeit money order that we do a seizure on has to be sent a letter from the Fine and Penalty office that is time consuming and costly.

I found that when you make a counterfeit money order shipment seizure to take it to the Postal Inspectors Office down the street and they will sign for all... more »

I believe a great way the government could save energy and money would be to put in motion sensored lights. This would work especially well in restrooms, hallways and administrative offices. We would no longer have to rely on employees to turn the lights off. As long is someone is in the office working, in the restroom or walking down a hallway the lights are on. When you exit the area the lights go off. A great... more »

My concern is primarily with the waste of over-air-conditioning in the summer and similarly, over-heating in winter. As my mother used to say whenever we kids complained about the house being cold in winter: you need to put on a sweater! The point is you should dress appropriately to match the weather (whether that's light clothes in summer or warm in winter). One of the most wasteful practices I have observed by several... more »