Please Join the SPO in Welcoming its New Director
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 As the Director of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Sustainability Performance Office (SPO), Kevin Carroll brings experience to DOE across a broad spectrum of energy, policy, and legislative issues and programs.
Prior to coming to DOE, Kevin served as Energy Branch Chief for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), where he directed budget and policy oversight of all DOE civilian activities including the Department’s science, energy, and environmental cleanup programs. Previously, as the Staff Director for the U.S. House of Representatives Energy Subcommittee, Kevin oversaw science and research and development activities at DOE. Earlier in his career, he served as OMB’s program examiner for the DOE Fossil Energy program. Kevin holds a Master of Public Policy from Duke University and teaches at the Graduate School of Political Management for George Washington University. He also earned his undergraduate degree in Political Economy of Natural Resources at the University of California, Berkeley while working as a heating and air conditioning mechanic. He is a native of Connecticut.
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SPO Works with Program Offices to Reduce Reporting Costs
Based on input from departmental stakeholders and site users, enhancements to the DOE Sustainability Dashboard (Dashboard) will result in the automatic generation of the Site Sustainability Plan (SSP). The Dashboard will provide the charts and graphs for the SSP, flexibility to create new sections based on site and program needs, the ability for multiple users to update different sections simultaneously, and access to the existing Dashboard approval process. Anticipated benefits include improved consistency between data and narrative sections; a streamlined approval process; and decreased reporting costs for the sites, programs, and the SPO.
Last week, the SPO released the 2018 SSP Guidance which provides the sites with instructions for completing the SSP. Sites have two options to submit the FY 2018 SSP:
- Use the new SSP narrative module in the Dashboard to create the FY 2018 SSP, upload supporting documents, and approve using the automated completion process. The SPO is expecting the new module to be available by the end of October 2017.
- Submit a Word or PDF plan along with supporting documents via sustainability@hq.doe.gov.
Please contact the SPO with any questions on the reporting process.
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DOE Recognized for its Contributions to Sustainability in the Federal Government
The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) recognized DOE sites for their energy and water efficiency contributions to sustainability in FY 2016. These included the Y-12 National Security Complex, as well as a multi-agency EPA submission highlighting Gerald T. Robinson from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Chandra Shah from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. To read about the winners please visit the Federal Energy Management Awards website.
Additionally, the EPA recently recognized several DOE sites in their Federal Green Challenge (FGC) awards program, including East Tennessee Technology Park, Y-12 National Security Complex, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Bonneville Power Administration. To read about the awards visit the Federal Green Challenge Awards website.
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INL Saves Fuel, Emissions, and Operating Costs
The proof-of-concept highlighted in this video demonstrates a no-idling system that could potentially result in big savings for the commercial motor coach industry.
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INL Continues to Drive Down Idling Time with New Heating and Cooling System
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 Idaho National Laboratories (INL) operates and maintains a fleet of 85 over-the-road motor coaches that transport more than 3,000 employees to their workplaces daily. Although INL has a stringent idle reduction policy, the site continuously looks for opportunities to reduce the use of fossil fuels. With funding from the SPO, INL partnered with Motor Coach Industries and Bergstrom Inc. to design a solar powered air conditioning system specifically for motor coaches.
In pre-cooling and maintaining the passenger compartment prior to passenger loading without having to run the engine, INL was able to reduce the consumption of petroleum fuels and operating costs. Testing to date indicates that this prototype system can effectively maintain interior comfort levels for up to four hours from the time the bus is shut down. By eventually expanding use of the system across INL’s fleet, INL projects an annual savings of 10,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year, avoiding 87 metric tons of CO2 emissions.
Due to rigid anti-idling ordinances in many major metropolitan areas and the ability of this system to maintain acceptable interior comfort levels, this proof-of-concept could lead to savings in the commercial motor coach industry, as well as at other federal sites.
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Collaborating with Industry to Maximize Infrastructure Improvements Using ESPCs
Last month, the SPO sponsored the second design charrette for the Facilities and Infrastructure Restoration and Modernization (FIRM) Program. The goal of the DOE FIRM program is to increase the use of public-private partnerships at DOE to make substantial infrastructure improvements at DOE sites through energy performance contracts. Participants included energy service companies, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Federal Office of Sustainability, and the Rocky Mountain Institute. All shared their insights and best practices in executing energy performance contracts.
The SPO would like to thank the attendees for their participation. We look forward to continuing the conversation and paving the way to a new and improved DOE Complex.
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U.S. Department of Energy Sustainability Performance Office | September 2017
