SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

Roofing Projects for new government buildings and for Repairing existing government buildings is expensive, but it would Save a lot of money over time if we added Solar Panels at the same time as roof work is being contracted. The installation costs would be reduced greatly and the electrical savings would more than make up for the smaller construction cost over time and would lower our dependence on energy. It would... more »

Set up financing so that the investments in energy-saving equipment and other energy efficiency upgrades can be done without any initial cost. With a financing mechanism in place, a project that might cost $10 million up front and save $1.5 million per year, could now be done with no up-front cost. The $10 million would be borrowed and, if paid back over 15 years, it would cost less than $80,000 per year. So, rather... more »

For warm-climate gov't offices, tint all south and west facing windows. I just did it at my house and it's great! Big savings on AC costs. Little impact in winter!

Lack of a comprehensive unit-level energy education program inhibits a collective application of improved practices and does not encourage innovation from the deck plates on up to work towards newer cost-cutting efficiencies in an increasingly challenging fiscal environment.
Including reportable progress metrics with recognition and rewards for the best quarterly efforts will further incentivize a more robust collateral... more »

My idea can be enacted by the President in an hour. Have the entire Executive Branch streamline the procurement of Federal vehicles by limiting them to sedan models with a four cilinder engine only and light trucks limited to six cilinder engines only. Currently all American car manufacturers build fuel efficient vehicles with these features, even full size, 4x4 light trucks. Limiting procurement of vehicles to these... more »

In order to conserve electricity (and therefore operating costs), as many items as possible should be powered down when not in use. Office lights should have timers/motion sensors installed that turn them off after a certain period of inactivity. Printers can be powered down at the end of the day (or when they are not in use - sometimes I use my printer only a few times a week). Scanners should remain powered off and... more »

Simply stop minting the penny. It wouldn't be missed and the government would save vast amounts in acquisition, labor, distribution, and mgt costs.

Several buildings have decorative high intensity lightbulbs that are expensive, unnecessary and cost a lot to operate. They can be replaced by much more efficient LED lights or be eliminated all together. Agencies should evaluate unnecessary energy costs and use only what is essential.

I noticed people wearing coats/sweaters in the summer. By setting thermostat back up to 10 degrees saves up to 20% on Cooling/Heating bill. We conserve energy where ever possible at home; the same should apply at work.

Many times over the weekend at federal facilities the lights and computers remain on. The cost savings would be enormous if we can encourage people to shut the power off and get engineering to power down the central controlled electricity on unused floors.

We may be using Fluorescent light bulbs, but we should continue to alternate bulb use like we did prior to using Fluorescent light bulbs. We should keep some lights bulbs Off while others light bulbs are On (alternating bulbs). Thus still providing enough lighting to do the job while conserving Electricity; Reducing lighting where necessary.

Turn off computer monitors at night. Computer monitors can always be turned off at night. Computer upgrades can occur with monitor screens switched off. Leaving computer monitors on at all times is a huge waste of energy and dollars. It is completely unneccessary!! Let's save those dollars! Let's save that energy! It will also cut our greenhouse gas emissions!

When vehicles are replaced, buy the most efficient vehicles that are available at a reasonable cost. This will save operating costs in vehicle fleets.

ENERGY STAR refrigerators pay for themselves and start saving money in a short period of time.

Climate control systems for all government offices/buildings should be set at 68 degrees during the winter months and 78 degrees during the summer. Implementing a plan such as this would greatly reduce energy consumption and operating costs throughout the Federal Government.