Fort Lewis has sliced about $1.9 million from its energy bill since 1997, and the Washington State University Extension Energy program that helped them do it is now helping 45 other federal sites reduce their energy costs.
     The Tacoma Army installation was the first large federal facility to give the Resource Efficiency Manager program a try.
     REM, as it also is known, is a systems approach for managing a facility's energy, water, and solid wastes. Scott Wolf, energy engineer, said the aim is to reduce utility bills by focusing on behavioral changes, maintenance and operation procedures, resource accounting, education and training, and a comprehensive awareness campaign that enlists everyone in the organization in the program.
     "It's not rocket science. We put a box around a person who manages energy and put emphasis on people because people, not machines, save energy.
     "You can have energy-efficient equipment, but if it is not operated correctly and if people aren't educated about operations and maintenance procedures, your energy-efficient equipment won't run very efficiently."
     Typically, REMs are challenged to generate enough savings in a year or two to offset their own salaries and benefits plus generate additional savings from energy budgets. "The program is capable of generating a 300 percent to 400 percent return on investment at a large federal facility," Wolf said.    While the concept for the program isn't new, the application is. School districts in Washington and Oregon had been hiring retired principals or science teachers to be watchdogs of energy use.
     "There was a nice return on investment with the six school districts (now 40) that had initiated it," Wolf said. "I thought the federal government really needs to be doing this."
     He approached Fort Lewis with his idea. "They were skeptical, but they let us do it mainly because it wouldn't cost them anything. "The Fort Lewis REM project began with one year of funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program. It was hoped that energy savings would offset the program's cost after a year.

Teaching soldiers about energy consumption

The Extension Energy Program
is helping the Army keep a lid
on energy costs at Fort Lewis.

     While the concept for the program isn't new, the application is. School districts in Washington and Oregon had been hiring retired principals or science teachers to be watchdogs of energy use.
     "There was a nice return on investment with the six school districts (now 40) that had initiated it," Wolf said. "I thought the federal government really needs to be doing this."
     He approached Fort Lewis with his idea. "They were skeptical, but they let us do it mainly because it wouldn't cost them anything. "The Fort Lewis REM project began with one year of funding from the U.S. Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program. It was hoped that energy savings would offset the program's cost after a year.
     The program quickly paid for itself and soon earned national recognition. In 1999, Fort Lewis took second among 266 active Army installations around the world in the 21st annual "Secretary of the Army Conservation and Water Management Awards."
     "We always knew this program worked well in school districts and local government buildings that spend at least $1 million annually on resources," said Curtis Frammel, U.S. Department of Energy FEMP energy coordinator. "We were eager to partner with Washington State University to try it in an entirely different organization with energy expenditures over $10 million annually."
     With Wolf providing technical advice, the self-funded REM model has spread to 45 federal sites, including U.S. Navy installations in several states, U.S. Postal Service facilities in California and Florida, and at the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Washington, DC.