The Louisville District's Denton, Texas, Army Reserve Center (ARC) and Organizational Maintenance Shop was awarded Army Corps of Engineers Headquarters' Lean, Clean and Green Award for 2014. The project's green features are almost limitless, and the sustainable design and construction template has been emulated by other federal agencies.
The Denton ARC was designed and constructed for the Army Reserve to support combat readiness training for Reserve Soldiers in preparation for deployments to the middle east including Afghanistan and other overseas locations.
The ARC and Organizational Maintenance Shop includes a rainwater harvesting and reservoir system, photovoltaic solar panels, a solar heating system for showers and a ground-coupled heat-pump system using an 84-bore well field (300' deep wells) which use water from the well to heat and cool facility) to draw energy from the earth for heating and cooling the building. The hot Texas climate was taken into consideration when designing the roof. Reflective roof surfaces were used to reduce heat gain and associated cooling costs. The reserve center and maintenance shop were constructed by GCC McCarthy Joint Venture II, Dallas, TX and designed by GLMV Architects Inc. Wichita, KS, working with Louisville District's project delivery team led by Joni Hibbard, Project Manager.
Pioneering leadership from Louisville District emphasized use of energy charrettes to establish building-performance goals and sustainable-design strategies, notwithstanding its stunning architectural elements. Strategies used at Denton, such as day lighting to reduce artificial lighting costs, rooftop solar energy systems to offset building energy use requirements, and air barrier systems to effectively control energy lost through infiltration, are cost effective measures and key to creating high-performance buildings that consume less energy.
The ARC complex is 37,000-square foot training building with an 8,000-square three-bay military vehicle maintenance shop and a storage building. The ARC is multi-functional -- as are most Reserve Centers -- with assembly hall, classrooms, library, weapons simulator, administrative offices and fitness center.
The project delivery team members recognized were Ray Frye, Executive Officer; Patty Germano, Project Manager Specialist; Joni Hibbard, Project Manager; Jodi Little, Budget Analyst; Jackie Preston, Realty Specialist; and Shane Rushing, Contracting Officer's Representative.
"This project team is committed to sustainability and ensuring that the agency's Environmental Operating Principles are put into practice every day. "It's one thing to have goals and targets for sustainability, but they are meaningless without the people and teams who figure out how to achieve them. These are the people who are doing that, and I congratulate them," said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commander Lt. Gen. Thomas Bostick, Washington, D.C.
The award citation reads, "This award recognizes outstanding organizational achievement in building efficiency, renewable energy development and deployment. The winning project must demonstrate measurable results in energy efficiency, increased use of renewable energy, and reduced greenhouse gas pollution; or decreased petroleum fuel consumption and greenhouse gas pollution reduction; or decreased petroleum fuel consumption and green house gas pollution reduction. The Denton Army Reserve Center has several sustainable design features that make it an energy-efficient, high-performing complex that provide an estimated annual savings of 130,000 kilowatts."
The Denton Texas, Army Reserve project, which was completed in 2013, is also LEED Silver certified. LEED, or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design, is a green building certification program that recognizes best-in-class building strategies and practices. To receive LEED certification, building projects satisfy prerequisites and earn points to achieve different levels of certification. Prerequisites and credits differ for each rating system, and teams choose the best fit for their project.
(Candice Walters, USACE HQ public affairs office contributed to this article.)
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