Energy saving program underway at Yokota

  • Published
  • By Capt. Tania Bryan
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  Airmen around the globe are acknowledging energy efficiency and conservation during October's Energy Awareness Month and Airmen at Yokota Air Base are setting the example. 

At the arrival of cooler fall weather, the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron flipped the switch Oct. 12, shutting off Yokota AB's heating, ventilation and air conditioning, or HVAC, systems.

The program, called No Heat/No Cool Season, helps maintain the critical and aging HVAC infrastructure by allowing routine, preventative maintenance to be performed, but also cuts the base's electricity bill by thousands of dollars.

The energy that would be used to run the HVAC systems during this period is being saved, bringing an approximated energy savings of $13,000 a day for each "no-cool" day and $27,000 a day for each "no-heat" day," said Maj. B.J. Pringle, the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron Operations Flight commander.

"This period usually lasts about two weeks and is critical to increasing Yokota's infrastructure's lifespan and reducing the frequency of unplanned heating or cooling outages at other times of the year," Major Pringle said. "Maintenance of the heat-side equipment will begin once the chilled side has drained."

No Heat/No Cool not only saves money and allows essential maintenance to be performed, it also works in conjunction with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. This act mandates that federal facilities reduce the rate of energy use by three percent per year starting in Fiscal Year 2006, with a total reduction of 30 percent by Fiscal Year 2015.

"The No Heat/No Cool Season at Yokota contributes to our energy reduction goals," said Christopher Cook, the Yokota Air Base Energy Manager. "Last year we were in compliance with energy intensity reduction mandates; we need to continue on that trend and this program helps us meet that goal."

"Every dollar that is spent on energy is a dollar that could have been used to keep a C-130 (Hercules) in the air to accomplish our mission," said Mr. Cook.