Vance pursues energy efficiency in buildings

  • Published
  • By Dan Calvert
  • CSC Civil Engineering
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  One of the ways Vance has been able to reduce the amount of energy used per square foot by over 25 percent in the last six years is through incorporating energy efficiency into construction and renovation projects. This is something Vance has been doing for decades, and serves as the cornerstone of the energy program. Vance's energy reduction equates to over $150,000 in savings for the Air Force last year alone. The bottom line is more money available to fund the mission, resulting in a better equipped, better prepared Air Force. 

Energy efficient equipment and building materials make it into every applicable project at Vance. Some examples of projects that will be under construction this fiscal year include the renovation of RAPCON, or Radar Approach Control, to make room for the new Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, "STARS," and infrared heating for hangars 195, 170 and 129. The infrared heating projects are expected to reduce the natural gas consumption of those facilities by 35 percent. RAPCON is receiving building envelope improvements along with new heating and air conditioning equipment as a part of the larger remodel to make room for STARS. 

Additionally, construction is continuing on the Fuel Systems Maintenance Hangar and the Armed Forces Reserve Center. Both of these buildings have been designed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver criteria. 

Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED is a green building certification system and nationally recognized benchmark for sustainable design, construction and operation of high-performance buildings. The certification levels are Platinum, Gold, Silver and Certified. When construction is completed on the Fuel Systems Maintenance Hangar, it will be the first project at Vance AFB to receive LEED Silver certification. To date, only two hangars have ever earned LEED certification at any level. The impressive solar-powered Hangar 25 at Burbank Airport in California achieved LEED Platinum, and a Navy aircraft maintenance hangar in Norfolk, Virginia is LEED Certified. 

More information on LEED can be found at http://www.usgbc.org/LEED