SAVE Award 2011 Ideas

A majority of the energy cost in my home is due to heating in the winter and cooling in the summer. I would assume that a massive amount of federal money goes to heating and cooling office space.

Current dress codes and customs suggest that a person should dress exactly the same in both winter and summer. This requires more heating/cooling costs for buildings as they try to reach 70 degrees for every work day. Instead,... more »

Replace exterior doors with revolving doors to prevent outside air from entering the building. This would save on heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.

The current automatic doors remain open long after the user passes through. With the door wide open, air conditioning (or heat) escapes the building. A revolving door would prevent large amounts of interior conditioned air to escape, thus saving on utilities.... more »

The autoflush toilets waste a tremendous amount of water. The toilets will flush before it needs to and sometimes several times on its own. This is extremely wasteful and inefficient. We should be able to manage to push a handle down by ourselves. Also, the settings for the AC & heat are way too cold in the summer and too warm in the winter, which is extremely wasteful. Each building needs to be looked at separately... more »

Turn off the hot water. Many federal buildings unnecessarily heat millions of gallons of water each year. Unless your department or Bureau is providing showers to employees there is no need to provide hot water for simply washing hands. If this was applied government wide, millions of dollars could be saved and we would be a greener government.

Most military structures use hot water not only for bathrooms/showers, but also for heating. A properly sized/located solar water heater system could be used to heat this water year around (excluding extreme latitudes). Large aircraft hangers would be the most cost effective locations to modify first as their large roof area and abundance of sunlight (even during winter months) could supply generous amounts of solar heat... more »

While it may not save millions of taxpayer dollars, symbolism is important. The President should consider installing a geothermal system to heat and cool the White House. It will be a great way to highlight a natural and cost effective way to heat and cool the homes of Americans and highlight the remaining years of the 30% tax credit for energy efficient home updates. For every one dollar spent in a geothermal system,... more »

Ceiling fans are an inexpensive way to help circulate air in buildings. They will significantly help reduce heating and cooling costs. Imagine how much money will be saved if all government buildings change their thermostat by one degree .. let alone two or three.