Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recognized 28 individuals and teams across the federal government for exceptional energy and water cost savings at the 2019 Federal Energy and Water Management Awards. The winners recognized today contributed to a reported savings of approximately $15.9 million in energy and water costs, more than 587 billion British thermal units of energy, and 581 million gallons of water in fiscal year 2018 alone. The energy savings is equivalent to removing almost 26,000 cars from the road for one year or eliminating the average electricity use from more than 21,000 households, according to an Environmental Protection Agency gas equivalencies calculator.

With more than 350,000 energy-using facilities and 600,000 vehicles, the federal government is the nation’s largest energy consumer and has an opportunity and responsibility to lead by example. Managed by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), these annual awards honor outstanding projects and programs at federal facilities related to energy and water cost savings, optimized energy and water use, and distributed energy, including the use of on-site renewable energy, storage, and combined heat and power technologies. 

This year’s winners include those serving in the U.S. Air Force, Army, Defense Logistics Agency, Marine Corps, and Navy; the departments of Agriculture, Commerce; Energy, Interior, Justice, and Veterans Affairs; and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Many of the winning efforts focused on improving the federal government’s energy efficiency and resilience through optimized operations and replicable cost-effective projects.

FEMP also presented a Director’s Award to the Army’s National Training Center and Fort Irwin, DOE’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve Project Management Office, and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Southern Nevada Healthcare System, North Las Vegas for providing strategic leadership during the development of FEMP’s Technical Resilience Navigator. The navigator is a new tool that provides a systematic approach to resilience planning that allows agencies to prioritize solutions and create a roadmap for action.  

FEMP’s continued goal is to supply federal agencies with the resources they need to meet and track their energy goals, and build agencies’ abilities to manage their critical missions by becoming more efficient, resilient, and secure.

Learn more about this year’s award winners.

FEMP works with its stakeholders to enable federal agencies to meet energy-related goals, identify affordable solutions, facilitate public-private partnerships, and provide energy leadership to the country by identifying and leveraging government best practices. Learn about FEMP.