On September 25, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), recognized the U.S. Air Force Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex (OC-ALC) as a national leader in energy management. This honor took place at AEE World in Nashville, TN. The OC-ALC, at Tinker Air Force Base, is the largest aerospace maintenance, repair, and overhaul unit in the Department of Defense with a team of over 9,300 military and civilian professionals delivering combat ready air power for America.
Pictured to right: Ethan Rogers of the U.S. Department of Energy presents OC-ALC’s Julia Skinner with the 2024 U.S. National Award at AEE World.
To qualify for this national award, the OC-ALC established an energy management system (EnMS) certified to ISO 50001, the global energy management standard, and wrote a structured case study to share insights about the process and benefits of setting up the system. The case study was submitted to the global Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Energy Management Leadership Awards program, which promotes the use of the proven ISO 50001 framework to accelerate the achievement of energy and climate goals. The OC-ALC was one of two companies worldwide to receive the 2024 Award of Excellence in Energy Management from the CEM. DOE leverages the outcomes of the global awards program to offer this national award.
The OC-ALC is the first U.S. government organization certified to ISO 50001. The OC-ALC has maintained certification to ISO 50001 since 2017 and added certification to DOE’s Superior Energy Performance 50001 (SEP 50001) for its compressed air facility in building B210 in 2024. Since the energy management system’s introduction, the OC-ALC has improved energy performance by 35%, which translates into energy savings of 1,461,283 MWh, energy cost savings of $66.4 million, and CO2-e emissions reduction of 289,160 metric tons. After the OC-ALC’s successful implementation, the AFSC’s other two maintenance complexes were also ISO 50001 certified.
In 2015, the Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC, the OC-ALC’s parent organization)—recognizing the imperative of energy resilience for operations to U.S. national security—mandated ISO 50001 certification for the three maintenance complexes. Smart meters were installed to track energy consumption, and data from the meters were used to assess the energy performance of facilities and major equipment. The OC-ALC energy team used the results to identify significant energy users—as well as aging infrastructure and inefficient equipment. The team then identified and prioritized energy retrofit projects (e.g., replacing an old high-pressure gas distribution system and centralized steam plant with distributed steam boilers). The team also implemented low- and no-cost energy savings approaches that did not require new equipment.
The OC-ALC took advantage of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) financing mechanism and integrated energy management system implementation into the ESPC. As a result, the ISO 50001 efforts were covered by the energy cost savings from the ESPC energy performance improvement projects; the OC-ALC saw no front-end costs.
From the beginning of the EnMS implementation, the energy team and its energy management consultants followed the DOE’s SEP 50001 Measurement & Verification Protocol to ensure an accurate and technically rigorous analysis.
The ISO 50001 standard is a cost-effective framework that enables organizations to take control of their energy use and continually reduce costs and emissions. Regardless of an organization’s size or sector, this framework helps maintain and build energy and cost savings year after year. ISO 50001 is a product of international collaboration, drawing on best practices that have led to impressive savings in more than 50 countries. The standard is proven to be business-friendly, globally relevant, and transformational, as it embeds energy saving practices in any organization and provides a global benchmark for clean energy action.
DOE’s SEP 50001 program, managed by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy's Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office (IEDO), offers certification and elevated levels of recognition to facilities that achieve sustained excellence in energy management.
Learn more about the OC-ALC’s energy management implementation and resulting benefits.