YOKOSUKA, Japan - Fleet Activities, Yokosuka won a category of the Lean, Clean and Green award at the 2012 GreenGov Presidential Awards at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington D.C., Sept. 24. Representatives from FLEACT Yokosuka attended the event and received the award on behalf of the command.

This is the third annual award ceremony honoring those who have made efforts to lead the federal government in environmental, energy and economic performance, which is in compliance with President Barack Obama’s Executive Order 13514, signed in 2009.
In his order Obama stated, “...As the largest consumer of energy in the U.S. economy, the federal government can and should lead by example when it comes to creating innovative ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, reduce waste, and use environmentally-responsible products and technology.”

FLEACT Yokosuka was the only U.S. Navy command honored at the event for fiscal year 2011, during which FLEACT Yokosuka reduced its installation energy demand by 25 percent through awareness and action. The base energy management team informed the public on different ways to reduce demand and worked with commands, ashore and afloat, to reduce electricity used or reschedule it to off-peak hours.

“It really was a group effort, we can put that information out there, but it took everyone making a contribution to make a real difference,” said FLEACT Yokosuka energy project developer Michael Gabiga, “We asked people to set their air conditioners at a certain level, we asked them to do laundry at night during off peak hours, we asked them to think about what they actually need to run, to turn off unneeded lights or appliances, and everyone pitched in and did their part.”

FLEACT Yokosuka was also working under a mandate from the government of Japan to reduce its electrical draw after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The Tokyo Electric Power Company mandated the reduction to lessen the burden put on Japan’s power grid. FLEACT Yokosuka, tenant commands and ships in port succeeded in reducing the installation’s usage by more than the mandated amount for a total of 25 percent reduction.

“That has never happened before, there has never been a military installation that dealt with that kind of disaster, responded to it and at the same time had to deal with a mandate to reduce its energy demand,” said Gabiga. “But, I think that is what really made us stand out. We were faced with something that hasn’t been done before, something unprecedented.”

The command also turned off the fountains, outdoor electronic signs in front of the food court, Navy Exchange and commissary, emphasized turning off monitors and computers when not in use, encouraged using the stairs instead of elevators, and turned off some street lights. Public Works Department and U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka moved high demand electrical tasks to off-peak hours.

“Together that saved us about $2 million dollars in electricity costs during the course of the year,” said Gabiga. “We’ve still got the same programs in place. There is the other mandate, the one from the [Department of Defense] to lower the amount of energy used by three percent every year. We’re on track to meet those goals. We want to keep this going, to keep finding ways where we can do better.”