Last year, when Jim Shepherd received an email regarding energy conservation, he took notice.

"At the bottom of that email, it was stated that the Navy estimates a computer left on overnight costs about $80 annually [in wasted energy], which equates to a potential annual savings of $2.4 million Navywide," said Shepherd, general manager of Naval Air Station Patuxent River's Navy Gateway Inns and Suites. "I decided to share that information with my staff and we implemented some changes."

Administration staff began turning off their computers, calculators and copy machine at the end of the day, and housekeeping staff began turning off all lights and adjusting the temperature after servicing a guest room, particularly when it was vacant.

"Each guest room has its own individually-controlled air and heating unit, as does each office," Shepherd said. "When a guest room is empty, or in each office at the end of a work day, the temperature is adjusted to 68 degrees during winter months and 78 degrees during summer months."

The difference that simple effort made was obvious in a recent report which showed NGIS Buildings 464 and 406 had significant reductions in energy consumption over the 12-month period from September 2015 through August.

"Building 464, with 34 hotel rooms, showed 24 percent reduction in electric and 6 percent reduction in gas consumption," Shepherd noted. "Our larger Building 406, with 74 suites, showed 16 percent reduction in electric and 6 percent reduction in gas."

"The 24 percent reduction in YTD (year-to-date) consumption was six times higher than the average for all of Pax (Patuxent) River, and the 16 percent reduction was four times above the average," said Karl Bryan, Patuxent River's installation energy manager. "NGIS is producing considerable results."

While Shepherd notes occupancy has been down slightly by 4 percent, contributing somewhat to the overall energy reduction, it is mostly the simple things which have added up.

"The biggest difference from this year to last was making sure to turn off anything we're not using and adjusting the thermostats," he said. "With that conscientious effort throughout the year, these are the numbers we've come up with."

The simple energy-saving steps NGIS staff have adopted can easily be duplicated anywhere.

"Linking energy consumption to behavior through education, awareness, and accountability at the individual, command, and functional levels is the goal of energy conservation," Bryan added, "and NGIS personnel have shown it can make a difference. Well done to Mr. Shepherd and his staff."

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