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Tinker: How low can you go?

  • Published
  • By Brandice J. Armstrong
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Tinker is the largest energy consumer in the Air Force, but it doesn't have to be that way. If base personnel are actively energy conscious, Tinker's place in the energy-consumption category could be reduced. One way to conserve is by participating in the upcoming "How Low Can We Go" energy-conservation campaign, Memorial Day weekend, May 28-31.

The "How Low Can We Go" weekend is an initiative to encourage personnel to limit energy usage when away from the office. Participating is simple. Turn off and unplug non-essential equipment in the office before leaving for the night or an extended period of time.

"That's everything from big equipment to the coffeemaker on your desk. Even when those items aren't on, they're pulling in energy," said Britton Young, a mechanical engineer within the 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineering Directorate. "Before you go home, look around for appliances, electronics and lights and turn them off or unplug them."

Ms. Young said personnel should also look outside of their immediate office area, ensuring bathroom and conference-room lights are turned off.

"It makes a big difference even though it sounds like little things," she said. "With the size of this base and with as many people as we have working here, if everybody leaves something on, think about how much energy that will consume."

The campaign was first practiced over the three-day Columbus Day holiday weekend in October 2009 as part of October's Energy month. Deemed a success, civil engineering officials re-launched the campaign for the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend. To date, when the campaign was practiced over a three-day or four-day holiday weekend, it has saved Tinker roughly a day's worth of energy, which equates to approximately $90,000.

"The hope is that we continue to do this over long weekends and base personnel think about doing it every weekend and at home, and it becomes second nature to them," Ms. Young said.