Chapter 4 Our Operations
Energy Management
Because of its size, the Postal Service has the opportunity and responsibility to lead the way in energy management. Postal Service energy expenses amounted to $2.9 billion in 2008. Transportation consumes 78 percent with the balance spent on utilities. Energy initiatives focused on developing a common energy strategy for the organization and improving data quality. Transparency in overall consumption and cost will lead to significant improvements in energy management. Wise investments in energy efficient equipment today will repay their debt continuously over time.
To guide the organization in achieving its energy goals, a National Energy Management Plan has been developed to document the efforts of the business units to reduce energy consumption and costs. This plan includes high-level objectives for facility energy management, fleet management, fuel strategy, utilities management and energy conservation and awareness in the Postal Service.
The 500 largest buildings in the Postal Service’s inventory 
account for over half of its energy consumption. In 2008, the Utility Management System (UMS) pilot program was established to create a central utility bill verification and payment system that also streamlines and captures energy consumption and cost data for electricity, natural gas, steam, propane, and fuel oil. This system provides detailed utility consumption and cost profiles, bill payment, auditing, rate optimization, tax recoupment, and reporting. Based on the success of this initial pilot, the system is being expanded in fiscal year 2009 to include the next top 1,500 facilities, which should result in bill management and energy consumption information for 70-80 percent of the total energy consumption.
Getting everyone in the organization actively involved in energy management is key to meeting reduction objectives. The Postal Service has initiated a year-long energy conservation awareness campaign centered around the theme “Do your part; be energy smart!” This campaign encourages employees to save energy at work, at home, and on the road, and reinforces the message that all employees are responsible for reducing energy use.
Facility Energy
Energy costs for utilities were $651 million, a 6 percent increase attributable to the rapidly rising cost of utilities this year. To counteract these increases and control energy costs, a multi-point effort is being conducted, including energy audits and implementation of opportunities that provide a positive return on investment.
Opportunities include capital improvements of major building systems like HVAC and lighting, and many low-cost and no-cost opportunities, such as resetting thermostats and repairing existing systems.
Green Buildings
The Postal Service has been designing and building “green” buildings for more than 20 years, and continues to adhere to the basic philosophy of working to balance the objectives of people, planet, and profit. The latest update of the national building design standards includes a new “green” lobby design that uses a number of low-impact environmental materials. The Postal Service is also working to minimize the impact its buildings have on the environment. Metrics are being developed to measure and certify existing buildings that meet certain sustainable criteria. These criteria include energy, water, indoor air quality, and recycling. The objective is to finalize this measurement system and begin evaluating buildings in late fiscal year 2009.
Equipment design
The Postal Service has incorporated energy efficient requirements into mail processing equipment designs with the objective of meeting operational needs with the least amount of energy. The Flats Sequencing System is the first major purchase in which these new requirements were used. Existing equipment is being evaluated and upgraded in order to minimize energy consumption when in standby mode and not processing mail. The APPS and DBCS equipment are both being currently tested with modifications to reduce their standby energy consumption.
Information Technology
The more than 200,000 personal computers and thousands of numerous peripherals allow the Postal Service to perform its work very efficiently. Changing the default setting of most printers to double-sided printing has greatly reduced paper and energy consumption. In addition, power management software on computers has reduced overall energy use of this equipment.
Fuel Reduction
By optimizing its postal-owned fleet and seeking out the best-value available in contract transportation, the Postal Service is reducing miles driven to better manage fuel use. These efforts helped the organization absorb more than $700 million in fuel price increases this year. The Postal Service carefully scrutinizes key performance indicators for fuel consumption in air and ground transportation. The Surface Visibility program ensures all available mail containers are on the correct trucks. Advanced software applications and other technology are able to map more fuel-efficient routes and monitor truck utilization to ensure optimal assignment of ground volume, which reduces emissions from air transportation.