Join The Department of Defense in Saving Energy and the Environment Published Oct. 9, 2009 By Randy Grant 15th Airlift Wing Energy Manger HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii -- October is Energy Awareness Month. As part of an ongoing commitment to the environment, 15th Airlift Wing Energy Management Office urges you to help fight global warming by taking the ENERGY STAR Pledge with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's "Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR" campaign. The ENERGY STAR Pledge is a National movement that is encouraging millions of Americans to take small individual actions that collectively make a big difference. You too can contribute to this far-reaching initiative: · Change light bulbs in your home and office to those that have earned the ENERGY STAR rating; Compact fluorescent light bulbs use only about a third as much electricity as standard incandescents. Though the bulbs are slightly more expensive to buy, a compact-fluorescent will easily pay for itself by lasting up to ten times longer than regular bulbs. · Use a programmable thermostat to save energy while asleep or away from home; In the cooling season, set your thermostat at 78 degrees or higher when you are home or in the office. Savings: 10-20 percent of cool costs. Remember that setting your air conditioner below 78 degrees will not cool the room faster; it simply makes your cooling unit work harder and waste electricity. · Enable power management settings on computers and monitors; Instead of using a screensaver, program your computer to go into "sleep" mode when not in use. And be sure to turn off televisions, computers, stereos and the like when not in use. · Make your next purchase an ENERGY STAR qualified product, such as home electronics, office products, and/or appliances; Select the most energy efficient model when purchasing a new ENERGY STAR® refrigerator, washer, or other appliance. Savings: 5-25 percent of operating costs. · Make sure your home or facility is well sealed and insulated. Replace worn weather stripping and insulation, and tint south facing windows to reduce solar heat gain. · Install low-flow showerheads and faucets or flow restrictors. Try to reduce your hot water use in other ways, too. Savings: 5-10 percent of water heating costs. The energy used in the average house or facility can emit twice the volume of greenhouse gas as the average car. By using less energy you can reduce the amount of fossil fuels burned at power plants to make electricity. This means less greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. If every American household took part in the pledge, we would save more than $18 billion in annual energy costs and prevent greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to more than 18 million cars. The State of Hawaii, the Department of Defense, and the 15 AW has set a goal to reduce Hawaii's dependency on fossil fuel produced energy by 70% by the year 2030. This is a joint collaborative effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to use clean energy. We cannot reach this goal without you. Do your part to achieve this goal by taking the ENERGY STAR Pledge today. Go to www.energystar.gov/changetheworld and join millions of others in using products and practices that save energy, save money and protect the environment. Together we can make a difference. The Energy management's primary purpose is to reduce or find better energy alternatives that will help the base meet the federal goals of 30% energy reduction by 2015. For more information, call the Hickam Energy Management Office at 449-3147. Information supplied by http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=join_change_the_world.showSpreadWord