REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (Oct. 9, 2015) -- With last year's energy bill exceeding $52 million, Redstone Arsenal is the Army's 12th largest energy consumer but a local partnership is looking to change that.
To kick off Energy Awareness Month, the U.S. Army Materiel Command, or AMC, partnered with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, the Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, or AMRDEC, and community organizations to raise awareness with an Energy Technology Display on Redstone, Oct. 6.
"The president designated October as Federal Energy Action Month to raise awareness about energy consumption," said Jennifer Morgan, AMC's facilities energy program manager. "We want to enhance employee awareness about what they can do both at work and at home to reduce their energy footprint."
As tenants, we can help contribute to energy savings on the arsenal with simple efforts like turning off lights, computers and electronics, Morgan said.
The three organizations worked with Redstone to kick off the month-long energy awareness campaign.
"Just turning off a flat-screen computer monitor at the end of the day can save $15 a year. That number seems small but when you add up every computer monitor on Redstone, the potential cost savings is huge with around $24,000 at AMC headquarters alone. The power to make a difference is in everyone's hands," she said.
Informing employees about things they can do to save energy was just one part of the event. The Energy Technology Display included some of the latest renewable energy research and Soldier power initiatives, such as the Army RENEWS power station.
The station combines solar, wind power and batteries enabling deployed Soldiers to generate enough power to charge devices while lightening their load. In addition, there was a wind turbine from the AMRDEC and University of Alabama-Huntsville joint Switch Blade Competition, as well as the Nexus Energy Center's tiny house, and two all-electric vehicles.
"The event was triple-focused," Morgan said. "We wanted to show how the Army is contributing to renewable energy research, how employees can reduce the Army's energy consumption, and how they can save energy at home. We hope it served as a powerful reminder of what employees can do."
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