Facilities making their mark

  • Published
  • By Ted Theopolos
  • 88th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  A signature is your own mark. It serves to identify who you are. A facility electrical signature works in the very same way. It's the electrical usage of a facility over a time span which can be measured by minutes, hours, days, weeks and even longer. Such signatures can help save the base energy, which can in turn, save the base and tax payer money.

"A facility electrical signature can show how much energy is being used at any one time," said Gavin Jones, base energy manager. "Last year we added meters to buildings, with some having two because of their size. Now we can get a facility electrical signature of the metered buildings."

A graph chart with the electrical signature looks very much like a printed chart from a heart electrocardiogram machine with peaks and valleys.

"A typical graph can show us the date and time of high usages of kilowatts in a building," said Jones. "The most usage or peak electrical use is when people are at work. The electronic signature drops significantly after work hours and on weekends."

There are some buildings where the electrical signature doesn't drop, according to Jones. "The computer center is one of the facilities where the electrical signatures don't change much from day to night operations," said Jones. "Their equipment runs continuously to serve the base."

The idea behind viewing electrical signatures is to find facilities that still have a high electrical signature on off peak hours and on weekends. Once those buildings are identified, then the need is to find out what is causing the electrical usage and see if can be switch off.

The base spends about $1.7 million in electrical use every month. The most expensive month last year was August, with a cost of over $2 million. Last year's electrical cost was $20.7 million.

"The summer months are the most expensive," said Jones. "Air conditioning runs the utility cost up."

There are other factors that also can add to the cost. The base is billed by the electrical company by the highest 30 minute period of wattage used during the month. According to Jones, the labs run test that require a lot of energy.

"The labs are really good about informing us about tests that will require a lot of energy," said Jones. "They run tests at night and on weekends to prevent a high peak usage. To give an example, if they would run a test that would require a large amount of power (10 Megawatts) during peak time when the majority of the workforce was still at work, it could cost the base an extra $130,000 just for a 30 minute test period."

"There was no guidance on doing the facility electrical signature," said Jones. "We did this on our own to see if we can see electrical usage and determine if the energy is being used wisely. We're looking at buildings 14 and 15 currently to see if we can bring down the electrical signature on the weekends."

Jones points out there are phantom loads or an electrical load that doesn't drop when it should after the workday or on weekends.

"We try and find out the phantom loads in the buildings. There are so many variables to take into account though. There are things like HVAC, lights, computers, and other electrical devices. Computers need to be left on, but if the support equipment is not mission required after work hours and on weekends, possibly they can be turned off, shut down or unplugged."

Even the little things can drive up the energy cost for Wright-Patt.

Energy is still being used even when equipment like microwave ovens, televisions, DVD players, VCRs, computers, cell phone chargers, and copiers are turned off. In a typical house in the U.S. about 5% of the yearly electrical bill is from equipment turned off but still plugged in.

"Trying to reduce the facility electrical signature is not only good for the base and tax payers, but for the environment as well," Jones concluded.