JBSA-FORT SAM HOUSTON –
A $348,988 rebate check was presented at the 502nd Air Base Wing headquarters Aug. 15, thanks to a service contract between Joint Base San Antonio and San Antonio utility company CPS Energy to upgrade lighting at the San Antonio Military Medical Center garage.
The JBSA Area-Wide Agreement was signed Sept. 30, 2013, and entailed switching out indoor and outdoor lights at the six-level SAMMC garage. Almost 2,600 metal halide light fixtures were removed with 2,365 energy-efficient fluorescent and LED fixtures put in their place. CPS Energy also installed motion sensors to reduce additional consumption.
The four-month project was completed in May at a cost of $581,647, according to Jerry McCall, JBSA-FSH energy manager, but came at no cost for JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.
"It originally had an independent government estimate of $1,586,000," said Frank Thomas, Joint Base San Antonio resource efficiency manager. "The relighting project was the inaugural energy conservation project partnered locally with CPS Energy and JBSA."
An Air Force Productivity Enhancing Capital Investment grant was awarded for $978,200, coordinated by Craig Henry, the resource efficiency manager at the time.
"The savings realized by the lighting switch comes out to 2.7 million kilowatt hours and $196,896 per year," said Alfredo Canales, JBSA Project Engineer. "In addition, all lights provided a better average lumen output." (Editor's note: The more lumens, the brighter the light.)
"This project has far outperformed our expectations," said Garrick Williams, JBSA Energy Solutions director with CPS Energy. Williams' department was created especially to work with JBSA on saving energy. "CPS Energy enjoys a great relationship with Joint Base San Antonio."
"We want to be good partners," said Col. Jim Chevallier, 502nd Air Base Wing and JBSA deputy commander in accepting the rebate check. "I know it takes a lot of hard work by a lot of people to make this happen. We all share this Earth and this is the right thing to do."
JBSA and CPS Energy will be teaming up on several other energy-saving projects at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston and JBSA-Randolph in the future.