MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- After the hot summer, we are now approaching the "shoulder" months, the ones where the temperatures are sometimes cold and sometimes warm.

During these months, there are many calls and complaints from people whose buildings are "too hot" or "too cold." Unfortunately, these large buildings aren't like our home heating and cooling systems.

You can't just flip a switch and go from heating to cooling because several things have to occur.

First, the heating and cooling systems are often two separate large, complex systems that require quite a bit of effort to start up and shut down. Many of the buildings cannot have the heat and air conditioning operating at the same time.

Second, the buildings are massive and can take hours to heat up or cool down. Sometimes, on a cool morning, by the time the building has heated up, the temperature has gone up and now the building needs cooling.

If we switch some of the buildings to heat mode, then when the afternoons get warm, we can't cool them back down again.

With more than 200 buildings on base, the individuals who work to maintain them dread having an added burden to their already massive task of keeping up with building maintenance issues.

What can Moody members do to help? We can all plan to dress in layers so we can plan for being cold or hot on any particular day. If it is a few degrees off, ride it out or remove the layers, particularly if the temperature is going to change soon.

For more information on how you can save energy and money, e-mail moodyafbenergyteam@moody.af.mil or log on to www.energystar.gov.