DOD Efforts To Conserve Energy at Overseas Installations

Energy conservation efforts were surveyed at 16 military installations in Hawaii, Guam, and four foreign countries to determine if the installations complied with Federal energy conservation regulations. Positive energy conservation programs were observed at locations where top management emphasized conservation. One factor contributing to positive conservation programs involved the exchange of information. Although the Department of Defense (DOD) encourages conservation, it has not issued overall energy conservation program regulations and guidelines. Without such guidelines, conservation goals between the military services are inconsistent, and the diverse service regulations do not all comply with Federal regulations. DOD efforts to control energy use are hampered by limited means to measure consumption other than in total for an entire installation. DOD should: strengthen overseas energy conservation information dissemination by obtaining and distributing information and data already available within the Federal government, provide guidance on goal adjustments, issue regulations to assure that Federal standards for energy usage are used in all DOD facilities, and emphasize and encourage the use of metering as a mechanism to control energy use.