Greentech Lead America: The Department of Veterans Affairs
installed an Environmental Management System (EMS) at its 94 year old central
office building. The system will manage the energy consumption of the office
and provide an estimated $3.5 million in savings over the next five years.
The EMS installation at VA’s central office is
illustrative of a larger initiative to enhance energy management across the
National Capital Region. VA established an initiative for using emerging
technologies to understand energy demands and help manage complex energy data for
day-to-day and strategic goals to support the executive orders issued by White
House to set sustainability goals for federal agencies.
“At VA, we strive to be a leader in promoting
energy conservation and reducing our environmental footprint. It is part of
fulfilling our financial responsibilities, and it’s the right thing to do,”
said Eric K. Shinseki, secretary of Veterans
Affairs.
EMS is a partnership between two offices within the VA –
Information and Technology and HRA – and the General Services Administration
(GSA).
The system collects and reports 3,000 energy data points
every 10 seconds and analyzes these data in real-time to identify usage
patterns, and allow for credible forecasting of potential cost-savings
scenarios.
“EMS provides us an opportunity to reduce our
energy use, save taxpayer money, and create a model for energy management
across disparate facilities in the Federal government. Information technology
can play a valuable role in adapting performance data to simple, actionable
visualizations for short-term and long-term change in energy management,” said
Roger Baker, assistant secretary for the Office of Information and
Technology.
editor@greentechlead.com