Save Award 2010 Ideas

Leverage existing government properties to implement green energy technologies to reduce overall energy costs.

For example, large vacant property abutting the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, Artesia, NM location could be used to install wind turbines to power the buildings there, reducing overall energy costs of the Center while simultaneously lowering its carbon footprint. The roofs of the building could be... more »

Consider adding "solar groves" to appropriate government parking lots to shade cars and generate clean power (can also support electric cars and plug-in hybrids). Understand this will not work in all locations, but can see that it would work in some. Refer to http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/06/the-parking-lot-as-solar-grove/ for more info.

Review the costs of grounds and landscape maintenance at all federally-owned facilities and all federally-leased facilities. Reward xeriscaping and use of native/local plants or non-plant features (rock gardens, etc.) Set targets for reducing landscaping that requires extra care, extra watering, changeout of flowers at seasons and reward meeting or exceeding those targets.

Set targets for reduction of water use in restrooms for federally-owned or leased buildings to encourage installation of sensor-operated low flow toilets and sensor-operated water faucets.

Agency roofs are routinely repaired or repainted. GSA and OMB should require, where feasible, that when an Agency roof is repainted or newly constructed, that it be white to reflect heat and reduce energy bills. Agencies spend around 5% of their total budget on infrastructure and utility expenses, totalling billions across the whole Federal family. Nearly half of all utility costs come from heating and cooling. AC requires... more »

R.E.D.

R. eliable

E. xecss

D. isposal

GREEN AND ECO FRIENDLY

should be used gov. wide in every agency and in every branch, we need to look to our future by how we take care of our past.

I suggest we set-up for the Consolidated Purchasing of Paper by all Agencies from One Source.

In serving as a Contracting Officer for the last twenty-two years I have had to procure a lot of supplies to keep the mission of the office going. Included in those are paper products in various colors, sizes, thicknesses, holes, no holes and with varied recycled content. While our use of paper has hopefully decreased with... more »

We should consider implementing the use of Century Gothic as the default font across government. Century Gothic uses about 30% less ink than Arial or Times New Roman. http://blog.printer.com/2009/04/printing-costs-does-font-choice-make-a-difference/
While the savings per user might be small, this, combined with simply printing fewer documents, could add up across the federal government. Additionally the reduced ink... more »

Many days out of the year there are peak hours where it is bright enough outside that lights do not need to be on. Or at least certain ones by the exterior windows that do not make anything brighter. Also, most users have lights at their desks if they feel they need more light.

Turning lights off for even just an extra hour a day can save hundreds of thousands of dollars annually as well as the environmental impact.... more »

Use geothermal heating/cooling for new government buildings where feasible.

Allow all staff currently issued a computer the option of using a laptop. The use of laptops would dramatically cut down on printing costs and wasted paper. It would promote efficient work by allowing employees to travel, with all necessary documents at all times, to meetings, whether on- or off-site (this is especially important for technical assistance/monitoring/other travel). Laptops allow employees to be fully... more »

Utlize FDC Honolulu's Roof space to add solar panels. This would Greatly reduce the cost of FDC Honolulu's yearly $1.5 million dollar electric bill. Also adding a covered parking lot with solar panels on the the roof of that, would probably eliminate the electric bill entirely. More importantly it would be great for our environment!

We refurbish SSA facilities on a regular basis throughout the country, including throwing a lot of old copper cable in the garbage or leaving it behind for a contractor to remove if we are leaving the building (who knows what they do with it).

Copper is worth anywhere from $1.70 to $1.80 per pound (2009 statistics). Let’s estimate that a 50 foot cable weighs about two pounds, and each person has 3 network cables installed... more »

With the current national emphasis to move toward green energy, I suggest the installation of Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) on Government buildings around the nation. These turbines would provide electrical power directly to the buildings, thereby reducing the amount of electricity drawn from the utility grid. This offset could save millions in power bills across all agencies. Unlike conventional wind turbines... more »

Even though most government organizations have labored to become 'paperless' there will always be a need for some hard copying. I propose that we recycle our own products and actually redistribute the recycled goods back into government organizations for use. I believe that it would not only be economical and enviornmentally friendly to recycle our paper goods (especially all the shredded materials) but this would also... more »