by Jbs100908 G3 — October 12, 2008—The US Postal Service (USPS) has launched a year-long campaign to increase awareness and create results for energy conservation. The independent federal agency says that simple steps, taken collectively among its 685,000 employees and throughout its 34,000 facilities, will have a dramatic impact on the environment.
The USPS wants employees to start with such simple steps as turning off lights, closing doors, adjusting thermostats, reporting HVAC problems, turning off unused equipment, and becoming personally responsible for conservation.
The Postal Service has a stated goal of reducing energy use 30 percent by 2015. Scheduled capital investments will be made annually in energy conservation measures, primarily for lighting and HVAC upgrades.
The USPS began a Utility Management System pilot project in early 2008 to capture consumption and cost data for electricity, natural gas, and fuel oil. The pilot has successfully gathered bills for 600 sites and processed payments, allowing the Postal Service to better manage energy resources.
Detailed energy audits are ongoing at 500 of the largest energy-consuming buildings in the postal inventory. These buildings represent approximately 40 million square feet of facility space (40 percent of all facilities) and approximately 60 percent of the Postal Service’s energy consumption. More than 1 trillion BTUs of potential energy reductions already have been identified.
With the largest civilian fleet of alternative fuel-capable vehicles (43,000), the Postal Service says it used more than 1 million gallons of alternative fuel and increased E85 fuel consumption by 40 percent last year.
More information on the USPS’s green initiatives and consumer products can be found at its Greener Choices Web site.
