Projects target increased energy efficiency Published April 16, 2010 By Richard Brewer 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Local leaders want to get Team Robins members "buzzing" about saving energy. Robins members may help in the United States' energy independence efforts through competitions like the one currently being conducted by ConocoPhillips and Penn State at www.conocophillips.com/energyprize, which award people for "original and actionable solutions." "We hope this fuels workers to think about saving energy," said Tom Scott, president of American Federation of Government Employees Local 987. "It is a win-win for everyone." Senior base leaders also want you to know there are studies, such as one released Monday by a team of researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology and Duke University, which say "aggressive adoption of energy efficiency" efforts by those in the Southeast can, among other things, help lower individual and business utility bills by $41 billion and save 8.6 billion gallons of freshwater by 2020. "Everyone should always be looking at ways to help reduce our energy footprint," said Col. Jeff Naviaux, Robins' new energy director. A number of near-term projects will help Robins do just that, added Naviaux. One is a project to control when and at what intensity Robins' "high mast" lights illuminate. Instead of these lights brightly shining continuously at night when the installation is nearly unoccupied, the lights will be operated more efficiently at three nodes using computer and cellular technology. Another project involves infrastructure "investment-grade audits" of all 13 million square feet of work space. The audits will look for energy-efficient projects and processes to integrate across the installation.