During the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Annual Sustainability Awards Program, employees from the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) received accolades for leading the way in combating global climate change. Their efforts will improve the way we drive, light our buildings, and plan for sustainability. Russell Goering, the Electric Vehicle and Infrastructure Team, and the MMAC Energy Conservation Team all received recognition at the Department level.
For the past six years, Russ Goering has led the MMAC’s efforts, ensuring that the Center is energy efficient and continues to exceed sustainability goals. The MMAC realized significant cost avoidances and energy usage reductions in FY 2021 and 2022.
"Russ brings incredible innovation and energy to the sustainability program across the entire Center," said MMAC Deputy Director Kevin O’Connor. "He is a leader in his field and is often sought out by other federal agencies for his expertise."
Goering’s actions led to $900,000 in utility cost avoidance in FY 2021 and over 1.7 million-kilowatt hours of electricity savings from the previous fiscal year. In FY 2022, more than $500,000 has been avoided in utility costs. This significant cost avoidance is due to the multi-faceted approach Goering utilizes to manage the program.
Under his leadership, MMAC continues to develop energy conservation projects through a cross-functional team, providing sustainability education to the MMAC workforce, and implementing new technologies to reduce energy use.
The Electric Vehicle and Infrastructure Team collaborated with partner agencies and leveraged their ability to rapidly acquire electric vehicle (EV) charging equipment, setting in motion a strategy to ensure that 100% of vehicle acquisitions are EVs by 2035.
The FAA will be leasing 275 electric vehicles from the General Services Administration (GSA), making it the largest fleet in the DOT. The agency is installing 206 new charging stations at FAA facilities across the country. These stations will be able to charge all of the electric vehicles and will accommodate future growth. The FAA’s efforts are part of a government-wide goal to reach 100% zero-emission vehicle acquisition by 2035, including 100% light-duty acquisitions by 2027.
By efficiently and effectively collaborating across lines of business, the FAA Electric Vehicle (EV) and Infrastructure Team helped to lead the transition to electric vehicles. Because of the team’s efforts, the FAA significantly increased its portfolio of EVs, going from 25 fleet-wide to a quantity of over 200.
Electric Vehicle and Infrastructure Team Members:
AFN - Doreen K. Boschee, Keatra Fuller, Nabyollah Gharajeh (MMAC), Melissa McKelvy (MMAC), Kisha Woods
APL - Catina Cruz Seggie, Valerie Thompson, William J. Meyer, Kevin Gutchess
ANG - Omar Merced
The MMAC Energy Conservation Team used an innovative approach to complete a significant lighting retrofit project. Both teams’ efforts will help reach renewable energy goals set in EO 14057.
The MMAC Energy Conservation Team retrofit nearly 1,000 fluorescent fixtures with energy efficient LED fixtures and controls in MMAC’s Second Level Engineering Building. The annual electric savings for the building is 171,204 kilowatt-hours. That represents approximately 6% of the total annual building electric usage, or about $9,400 in utility bill savings.
In addition, that project earned MMAC more than $15,000 in rebates from the local electric company. The team used those rebates to source 7% of the MMAC’s energy usage from wind energy. This switch means MMAC used 4,402 megawatt hours of wind energy, which is enough to power 400 houses for a year!
The switch also equates to about 22% of MMAC’s total use of electricity for the year. The government-wide goal is to source 7.5 percent from renewable energy, and MMAC’s local goal is 10 percent, so the Center more than doubled its local goal and nearly tripled the federal goal!
"What stood out to me was the creativity and dedication of the employees and how replicable some of these accomplishments are," commented Assistant Secretary for Administration and Chief Sustainability Officer, Philip A. McNamara. "We heard about some incredible environmental and cost savings; now imagine if all modes or all facilities adopted these same practices."
The DOT Sustainability Awards recognize an individual or team that promotes sustainability and "green stewardship" in all aspects of DOT business processes, such as sustainable acquisition, electronics stewardship, or performance-based contracting, that make the DOT’s operations more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The awards are given each year to individuals and teams throughout the DOT who are working to advance the agency’s goals in energy and water conservation, technology application, and management.
Congratulations to all of our MMAC award winners!
