Kirtland officials commit to conserving energy Published Jan. 22, 2009 By 1st Lt. John Salinas Energy Conservation Working Group KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Although oil prices have dropped in recent months, Kirtland AFB leaders are determined to eliminate wasteful energy use. In conjunction, Col. Michael Duvall, 377th Air Base Wing commander, Kim Davis, acting manager of the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration Sandia Site Office, and Dr. Thomas Hunter, the president and laboratories director of Sandia National Laboratories, signed a commitment to conserve and use energy and other resources as wisely as possible Jan. 14. It marks the first step in a wide-ranging campaign to achieve realistic and worthwhile energy conservation goals. Energy conservation training is under way for facility managers. In turn, facility managers are charged with contacting everyone within their units to share energy saving information. Starting in February, the base will conduct a poster competition to draw out and publicize the base community's creativity in achieving energy usage awareness as well as to highlight simple energy conservation ideas. International Lights Out Day is March 28 and is marked by enacting easy and nondisruptive energy conservation measures. Kirtland AFB will conduct its own "lights out" effort to coincide with Lights Out Day to demonstrate how much energy can be saved through common-sense, energy-saving actions. Once these baseline energy savings are established, Air Force, Sandia and NNSA/SSO organizations will square off in a competition to see which one can reduce its energy use the most. Following the competition, Sandia National Labs will host the "Earth, Wind and Sun" July 21-22. The event will highlight renewable energy and conservation technologies that can be employed in the workplace as well as at home. More details on these events are available at www. kirtland.af.mil/kirtlandenergy conservationworkinggroup. asp. Energy conservation ideas can also be sent to conservation@kirtland.af.mil.