2021 Federal Energy and Water Management Award Winners

Robert Anderson

U.S. Air Force
Air National Guard Civil Engineering Technical Service Center
Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota

In Robert Anderson's 37 years of federal career service, including the past 13 years with the Air National Guard (ANG) Civil Engineering Technical Service Center (CETSC), he has become the ANG subject matter expert for mechanical engineering matters. He serves as the lead project manager for Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (SRM), Military Construction (MILCON), and Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) projects at 21 primary installations and 7 associated Geographically Separated Units in 13 states and territories. Since 2003, the 103 energy related projects Mr. Anderson has executed using SRM funding have totaled $54.6 million, resulting in a cumulative reduction in energy use intensity (EUI) of 21.7% and water use intensity (WUI) of 30.9% for installations in his assigned states and territories. Mr. Anderson also oversees 11 regional ANG Resource Efficiency Managers and installation engineers in coordinating the ANG ERCIP program, which has an ongoing project size of $46.4 million (FY 2018 to FY 2024).

Kevin Evans

U.S. Navy
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Northwest
Silverdale, Washington

Since joining the Navy energy program in 1997 as a Chief Petty Officer at Naval Station Everett, Kevin Evans has served in a wide variety of roles, including Resource Efficiency Manager (REM), Installation Energy Manager (IEM), and Region Energy Program Manager (REPM). He has been the Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) for energy projects and is currently the Project Manager for all utility energy service contracts (UESCs) at Navy Region Northwest. In 2020, Mr. Evans managed UESC projects with a total cost of $12.6 million and annual energy and water savings of $850,000. He also supported development of future UESC projects totaling $16 million. Mr. Evans was personally involved in creating the Navy's Building Energy Monitor (BEM) program training modules for employees, supervisors, and executives, which are used throughout the Navy. He continues to manage the Northwest Energy Awareness hotline and writes weekly and monthly articles for Navy newspapers and magazines, plans of the week, and social media.  

Nick Mirhaydari

U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration, Air Traffic Organization, Western Service Center 
Des Moines, Washington

Nick Mirhaydari has served 35 years as a dedicated champion of sustainable building and performance contracts for the FAA, directing the engineering and implementation of some of the agency's most important energy efficiency projects. He began his FAA career as an engineer overseeing heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system projects within the Western Service Area (WSA). Eventually, he would serve as the Lead Technical Engineer on every large WSA energy efficiency project, including all performance contracts, since 2008. Over the last 13 years, Mr. Mirhaydari has championed countless individual projects, while at the same time guiding five large-scale performance contracts through award, design, and implementation. His work has resulted in multiple milestones for the FAA, including the award of what was at the time the agency's largest single performance contract; the award of the largest solar photovoltaic project scope to date for the agency; and the implementation of brand new, high-efficiency technology at FAA facilities. 

Keith Carvalho
Pam Griffith
Andrea Kincaid
Cynthia Ralph
Jacob Vigil

Defense Logistics Agency
DLA Energy, Installation Energy Division
Fort Belvoir, Virginia

In FY 2020, DLA Energy's energy savings performance contract (ESPC) contracting team awarded three task orders and a Phase II modification using the DOE IDIQ contract. These awards represent approximately 50% of the ESPC awards executed on behalf of DoD in FY 2020 and 38% of all federal task order awards executed against the DOE IDIQ contract that year. The team also reached full acceptance on five projects in FY 2020. In total, these nine awarded and accepted projects, valued at more than $1.4 billion, will provide $618 million in third party investment at Air Force installations in six U.S. states, South Korea, and Japan. The roughly 100 energy conservation measures in these projects will result in annual energy savings of more than 1 trillion Btu. As one example of how these projects help boost energy resilience for the Air Force, the newly awarded project at Yakota Air Base, Japan, features a new 10.72 megawatt combined heat and power plant with microgrid controls, along with 108,622 gallons of water savings.

Janice Fishburn
Russell Gagner
Jackie Hanscome
Daniel Magro
Dyanne Van Der Kamp

U.S. Navy
Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center (NAVFAC EXWC) and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Port Hueneme, California and Portsmouth, NH

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) awarded an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) in November 2019 that will allow Portsmouth Naval Shipyard—which maintains, overhauls, and modernizes current and anticipated fleet submarines—to meet its expected steam and electric load for the next ten years. This ESPC will build a new 7.4 megawatt cogeneration plant alongside the installation's existing cogeneration plant, provide continued operations and maintenance, repair, and replacement (OMRR) for both plants for an additional 24 years, and install a microgrid capable of supporting this critical system. The project will ensure that the installation can meet all mission-related requirements and will enhance the protection of the Navy's nuclear platforms. 

NAVFAC incorporated into the ESPC new methodologies for improved measurement and verification procedures that enable resilience and reliability for the shipyard. From now on, the Navy will not only measure performance based on equipment efficiency and availability, but also on specific performance parameters, such as response times.

Garth Beutler
Aaron Erickson
Michael Heinze
Nickolas King
Brian Walsh

U.S. Air Force
Hill Air Force Base, Utah

In FY 2020, the Air Base Wing (ABW) at Hill Air Force Base initiated an ISO-50001 Ready energy management system (EnMS) program. This effort, modeled after the Ogden Air Logistics Complex (OO-ALC) ISO-50001 program, helped to identify significant energy users and applicable energy consumption targets. The EnMS was used to develop measurement, documentation, and reporting standards for steam, natural gas, water, and electricity systems.  

The program helped to maintain close coordination among the ABW, OO-ALC, and the privatized water and electric utilities that serve the base. Regular progress meetings among all entities, along with the rigorous measurement and documentation framework required under the ISO-50001 program, led to numerous energy efficiency project opportunities. Three projects—featuring air balance controls, automatic dip tank covers with advanced controls, and compressed air system loop optimization—accounted for roughly half of the 26 million kWh saved in FY 2020. In all, efficiency projects implemented in FY 2020 captured nearly $2.7 million in electric utility incentives. Leveraging the expanded metering capability with the ISO-50001 EnMS program is expected to create new opportunities for future efficiency projects.

Fawwaz Al Dabbagh
Jaret Jahngood
Alfonso Jo
John Thomas
Mick Wasco

Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar and Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southwest
San Diego, California

In summer 2020, the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar Microgrid Program completed work on the installation's full microgrid. After a years-long process of concept development, acquisition, design, construction, and testing of the microgrid and its supporting systems, including the interoperability between existing on-site renewable energy resources, the microgrid exceeded the program's energy security goals—outperforming initial load expectations by providing power to all of the installation's critical and essential buildings when disconnected from the commercial grid. In fact, the microgrid and supporting elements can provide backup power to mission essential facilities for 21 days without external fuel resupply. Key to the success of the program is the use of diverse energy sources, including solar photovoltaic arrays, power from landfill gases, and diesel and natural gas power plants. Ultimately, the MCAS Miramar Microgrid Program is the culmination of more than a decade of work that has changed the way both installation leadership and tenant commands think about energy security. 

Jason Cook (ChemTreat)
John Fratangelo
Andrew Gomes
Chris Lyon
Ye Tao

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services    
National Institutes of Health
Bethesda, Maryland

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Central Utility Plant (CUP) generates all heating, cooling, and process steam and chilled water for the NIH campus. Through its advanced water treatment program, the NIH CUP team optimizes the plant's operations and maintains proper water chemistry to protect the system's reliability, safety, and regulatory compliance. For example, the CUP's reverse osmosis water filtration system—which helps prevent scale buildup in boiler tubes and reduces the frequency of costly system flushes—saved NIH 28 million gallons of water and 55.9 billion Btu of natural gas in FY 2020, generating nearly $1 million in savings that year. An industrial water storage system holds enough water in reserve to ensure reliable CUP operation for four to five days in case county water becomes unavailable. Using real time data monitoring, frequent training, and close communication with other utility and facility staff across the NIH campus, the CUP's small team of highly experienced operators, engineers, and contractors helps NIH carry out its mission through efficient, effective CUP operation.

Philip Conley
Stewart Crow
Brent Hill
George Thigpen
William West 

U.S. Air Force
Robins Air Force Base, Georgia

The Robins Energy Program Management Office (PMO) is comprised of members from 78th Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Group and Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex Energy Office. The PMO team works in a highly collaborative environment, developing strategies to achieve reduced energy consumption, improved energy resilience, and revitalized infrastructure of aged, failing equipment critical to all mission partners at Robins Air Force Base. In addition to leveraging direct funding from the Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) and third party financing via energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) and utility energy service contracts (UESCs), the Robins PMO Team has also begun leveraging Air Force Materiel Command's continuous process improvement model, known as "Art-of-the-Possible" or "The Machine," to increase awareness and resolve constraints. The Machine currently tracks 28 initiatives utilizing ESPC, UESC, ERCIP, and Facilities Sustainment and Restoration and Modernization (FSRM) funding vehicles, with total project savings of more than $493 million.

Joseph Cecrle
Paul Ganschow
Joey Hunter
Jeff Kindschuh
Marc Owen

U.S. Air Force
Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma

Tinker Air Force Base's Energy Team has reduced energy consumption even as the base continues to grow. From FY 2019 to FY 2020, Tinker AFB reduced energy consumption by 10% and water consumption by 25%, yielding nearly $3 million and $550,000 in respective savings. Capping off a series of successful energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) and utility energy service contracts (UESCs), Tinker completed its third and largest ESPC to date in FY 2020, focused on industrial processes at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex. Efforts completed there in FY 2020 include lighting efficiency, steam decentralization, and improvements to the energy management control system (EMCS), chillers, air compressors, and industrial processes. By sustaining several years of energy use reductions, Tinker has improved from being the largest energy consumer in the Air Force in FY 2012 to the fifth largest in FY 2020. In addition, the Air Logistics Complex continues to target its highest energy consuming facilities and processes for improvement as part of its ISO 50001 Energy Management Program.

Mark Linkous

Directorate of Public Works
U.S. Army Garrison Fort Campbell, Kentucky

At U.S. Army Garrison Fort Campbell, Public Utilities Specialist Mark Linkous's continued conservation efforts and accomplishments directly support Army policy, strategy, and objectives. Through his highly effective water management efforts, Fort Campbell's Water Conservation Program has successfully reduced installation water usage from 89 gallons per square foot to approximately 56 gallons per square foot since 2007, as reported in the 2020 Army Energy Management Report (AEMR). This 37% reduction in water use on site substantially exceeds the Department of Army's prescribed target.

Ashish Agrawal (Guernsey)
James Arnold
Mike Chambers
Peter Marvin
Fred Sandgren

U.S. Army
Fort Wainwright, Alaska

Fort Wainwright, Alaska (FWA) has developed a Central Heat and Power Plant (CHPP) Optimization model to run its aging coal-fired cogeneration plant more efficiently and cost-effectively. The installation has reduced its on-site power generation to the amount produced when the CHPP is meeting FWA's full steam demand. Any further electricity needs are met by importing electricity from the grid, which is 25% cheaper than generating more power on-site. At the same time, with programming changes to the CHPP computer system as well as close monitoring and manual changes by the turbine operators, FWA limits its grid electricity imports to avoid triggering expensive utility demand charges. In FY 2020, these optimization changes resulted in energy cost savings of $1.6 million; an 11.5% reduction in energy use for the year; 29,000 fewer tons of coal burned, leading to a 13% drop in related greenhouse gas emissions; and an 85% reduction in the number of customers experiencing power outages compared with FY 2019. 

Dr. Josh Anderson
Bob Anderson
Bob Barrish
Lt. Col James Oaksford
Lt. Col Brock Sissel

U.S. Air Force
McConnell Air National Guard Base, Kansas

McConnell Air National Guard Base (ANGB) hosts the Intelligence and Cyber Operations mission, which requires critical climate control for energy intensive computer server rooms. In FY 2020, McConnell ANGB completed a state-of-the-art ground source heat pump (GSHP) system, retrofitting three buildings by integrating existing mechanical equipment and infrastructure to achieve an efficient, maintenance-friendly, robust, and affordable heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. The system recovers and diverts waste heat from high-intensity buildings with steady power consumption and heats buildings with warm coolant, reducing the need for natural gas. The 247 tons of installed geothermal capacity yielded a combined annual electric and natural gas energy savings of 12.5 billion Btu and an energy cost savings of more than $265,000 during FY 2020.

Eric Ausen (Siemens)
Lucas Dombrink (Siemens)
Tomasz Filatow
Judith Rodriguez
Fabian Seimen (Siemens)

Department of Public Works
U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, Germany

At U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden (USAG-W), Germany, USAG-W Energy Manager Tomasz Filatow and Engineering Division Chief Judith Rodriguez, along with their contractor team at Siemens, have implemented Energy Savings Performance Contract One (ESPC-1). This $9.4 million ESPC project involves facility optimization, grid-interactive solutions, data centers, improved energy and water resilience, and enhanced energy diversity and security, including hardened cybersecurity of operational technologies. Among other energy conservation measures, the project replaced an aging oil-fired heating plant with an efficient natural gas-fired combined heat and power plant; replaced some 5,000 interior light fixtures with high-efficiency LEDs; and installed rooftop solar photovoltaics on 11 buildings, doubling on-site renewable electricity generation. 

Mark Clark (Okaloosa Gas District) 
Jeffrey Fanto
John Kitson
Daniel Nocher
Brian Poole (Energy Systems Group)

U.S. Air Force
Eglin Air Force Base, Florida

In January 2020, Eglin Air Force Base (EAFB), in partnership with Energy Services Group and Okaloosa Gas District, completed the installation of two natural gas prime, peak shaving generators totaling 2.7 megawatts (MW); one 800 kilowatt natural gas combined heat and power package; and an additional 3.5 MW of solar power generated from two active-tracking arrays on Air Force property. This resilience project, which includes total sustainment and system improvement costs for 23.6 years, has resulted in nearly 7 MW of real-time energy resilience and cost-effective mission assurance for EAFB's critical loads. The combined energy produced from these natural gas units and state-of-the-art solar arrays satisfies nearly 20% of all electric demand on EAFB's extensive western grid. Additional mission resilience and assurance is achieved through a dedicated microgrid control system, ensuring EAFB electrons are routed directly to EAFB mission requirements.

Christopher Cronick (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium)
Hugh Denny
Gunner Hodgson (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium)
Dustin Madden (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium)
Martin Wortman (Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium)

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Indian Health Service, Anchorage, Alaska

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Indian Health Service (IHS) Alaska Area and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium's (ANTHC) Rural Energy Program are committed to seeing that energy security and resilience and safe water and sanitation are not only affordable, but also sustainable through renewable and alternative energy solutions for public health infrastructure. The IHS Alaska Area and the ANTHC Rural Energy Program work to increase energy resilience and reduce energy costs by identifying and implementing energy efficient and alternative energy solutions. 

The IHS Alaska Area partnered with the ANTHC Rural Energy Program to address the needs of two communities in FY 2020. Through the implementation of two innovative energy resilience projects, involving heat recovery and a modular biomass boiler, IHS reduced diesel fuel use by approximately 16,000 gallons per year, which will save $57,500 annually. The projects increased plant efficiencies by 30 to 40% while boosting the local economy.

Megan Blucher
Robert Ratcliff
Armando Romo
Otto VanGeet (National Renewable Energy Laboratory)
Mick Wasco

U.S. Marine Corps
Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, California

The Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar team partnered with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to design and install a new efficient, resilient, and cost-effective data center, which achieved its target power usage effectiveness (PUE) of an incredible 1.2. (The industry average PUE is 1.6.) Completed in 2020, the project also leveraged the data center's backup diesel generator as an asset for the entire installation by integrating it with the installation's microgrid. This way, the microgrid-connected data center generator provides an additional 1.5 MW of power to the entire installation when isolated from the utility. The cooling towers were designed to use recycled water for additional savings. Combined with other efficiency measures representing savings of around $500,000 per year, the project has resulted in an overall 35% drop in energy consumption.

Bret Wolfe

U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii

In FY 2020, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed a series of low- to no-cost projects at the 8,200 square foot Administrative Office and Visitor Center at Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge in Hawaii, resulting in an incredible return on investment. For a few hundred dollars, the facility bypassed irrigation leaks; fixed the previously wasteful greenhouse watering system to maximize water delivery to the plants; and adjusted and monitored toilet flush valves that had been causing the fixtures to run continuously. Ultimately, these simple measures reduced the facility's monthly water use by 121,000 gallons, an 82% drop. Another project was to standardize an operations and maintenance (O&M) routine for the Refuge's solar PV panels which not only saved $4,000 in energy utility costs due to a 20% increase in renewable electricity generation, but also resulted in thousands of dollars in credits for surplus energy production. In all, the project avoids at least 13.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions annually by addressing inefficiencies through an enhanced maintenance regimen.