Department of Energy’s Buildings Don’t Meet DoE Guidelines
From Aaron’s EnvironMental Corner
Department of Energy (DoE) = #FAIL
That was my alternate title for this article. Not to be too trendy or anything. For any of you who wonder why it is that I question government initiatives to “save” us or “save the environment,” this is a great illustration of why. The government can only do one thing right: screw things up. That’s about all they’re really good at.
This is proof of my point. The Department of Energy underwent an audit of a handful of its buildings by the inspector general. In his findings, the inspector found that of the seven facilities surveyed, not a single one of them complied with the DoE’s own power-saving guidelines.
The inspection itself was on computer systems and related hardware. The DoE has specific guidelines about how a building’s IT systems must operate in order to meet the efficiency standards they’ve set. Sort of like an “Energy Star”
rating for IT departments.
Every one of the buildings failed miserably. In fact, the inspector’s audit projected that if all of the guidelines were being met, the buildings would save about $23 million in energy costs over the next five years.
Now consider this: that’s only seven buildings. The Department of Energy has fourteen major complexes of buildings and countless smaller buildings peppered around the country. How much, in total, do you think they could be saving (or are wasting) because they aren’t following their own guidelines?
Now you know why I never look for a government solution to any problem.
Tags: al gore, government, President Obama, united states
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