News Release
The Oklahoma Department of Human Services Garvin County Office has earned an ENERGY STAR certification for reducing operating costs by improving energy management.
The office will be recognized and presented an ENERGY STAR certificate on Oct. 26th at 10:00 a.m. at the office located at 2304 S. Chickasaw in Pauls Valley. The presentation is open to the press and the public.
“DHS is facing an unprecedented budget shortfall this year,” said Garvin County Director Rene Flippen. “Our employees have been pro-active in helping implement energy conservation guidelines to help reduce overall operating costs. I am very proud of their efforts. Garvin County staff has really bought into the energy saving idea and have actually benefited from this information themselves by utilizing the cost-saving measures at home.”
Earning an ENERGY STAR certification means a building must perform in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency. Also, it means the Garvin County DHS office costs less to operate than 75 percent of similar offices while still providing a productive work environment.
To help reduce energy, the DHS Facilities Management Unit has installed motion-sensing light switches in offices and in other common areas of the building, and replaced old light bulbs with bulbs that are more energy-efficient. Several rooftop air conditioning units quit working and were replaced with new energy-saving units, and a new roof has been installed which will also help conserve energy.
“Employees have been provided guidelines and methods that have empowered them to modify their daily habits and routines to reduce energy use,” Flippen added. “We were given stickers to hang at light switches as a reminder to turn the lights out when you leave a room, we moved all non-CPU items to a power strip at the desk so they can turn everything off at night, they are all in the habit now of turning their monitors off when they leave for the day. These seem like small things, but when you have this much equipment in a building the costs add up, so we are just proud to be able to help reach the state goal of reducing our energy consumption by at least 20 percent by the year 2020 and save the agency money.”
