Team Kadena turns stuff off, saves big bucks

by By Staff Sgt. Sara Csurilla
18th Wing Public Affairs

11/6/2012 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan  -- Thanks to the efforts of thousands of service members and their families this summer, Kadena was able to save $1.7 million during the summer of 2012, with a little help from Power Naps.

Due to increased energy usage during the summer months, the 18th Civil Engineer Group promoted an energy conservation campaign from June to September this year known as "Power Nap."

The Power Nap campaign encouraged people to cut back on energy usage by turning off lights, unplugging unused appliances or just changing out light bulbs to more energy efficient ones from the hours of 1-4 p.m. every day.

Because so many people made sure to turn off appliances before they left their homes or kept their offices a little darker than usual, Kelly Livingston, the 718th Civil Engineer Asset Management flight chief said the campaign was very successful.

"For the months of June, July, August and September in 2012, Kadena used almost eight million less kilowatt-hours than in 2011," said Livingston. "Everyone who took action to follow the Power Nap campaign's recommendations (were the ones that helped make the campaign successful). If you kept your air conditioner set at a reasonable temperature, or avoided drying your laundry during the power time window, you helped save 8 million kilowatt-hours."

Mike Gilbert, the Kadena Energy manager with the 718th Civil Engineer Squadron, echoed Livingston by saying the Power Nap campaign was successful. He also wanted to ensure Team Kadena knew how big of a part the Base Exchange played in help making  the campaign a success.

"Lots of people came into contact with Power Nap while visiting the Kadena BX and when they got home they followed the BX's example and turned things off," said Gilbert. "Please understand this is hard to verify and quantify. Kadena energy team would like to thank Darrin Rogers, the chief facility manager at AAFES, the BX managers and staff for stepping up and acting as the flagship for the campaign."

Since 2008, overall energy usage at Kadena has decreased by 12 percent, and the wing's goal was to decrease it by another three percent.

"During the months of June, July and August, Kadena reduced energy compared to the same months last year by 6.4 percent, resulting in a cost avoidance of $1.7 million," said Mike Gilbert, the Kadena Energy manager with the 718th Civil Engineer Squadron. "Lots of things affect energy usage and the Power Nap campaign was one of the factors leading to this reduction. The 18th CE Energy Management team would like to thank all of those that went out of their way to turn stuff off. Please continue to do what you do every day to help save money and protect the environment so our children and grandchildren will be able to enjoy the planet the way we have."