WASHINGTON - - Eight Secretary of the Army awards recognizing outstanding achievements in Energy and Water Management were presented to installations and personnel during a Pentagon ceremony October 29, 2014.
"Today we celebrate excellence in Energy and Water Management on our installations. We are very proud to present some of our heroes who have embraced the principles of Net Zero and are leading their installations to increased resiliency with energy and water security," said Hon. Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment.
The awards were presented for achievements in several energy efficiency, energy management and water conservation categories on behalf of the Secretary of the Army by Hon. Hammack, who was assisted by Mr. Richard Kidd, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Energy and Sustainability, and Lt. Gen. David Halverson, assistant chief of staff for Installation Management.
Before presenting the awards, Hammack noted, "Having a resilient Army is critical to our National defense. We must become more responsive to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century. Building resilience is helping people, communities and our Army prepare for, withstand and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses. Resilience is an installation's ability to perform all missions under a variety of adverse conditions."
"Army installations must be resilient in order to carry out their missions. Today we honor those installations and their innovative leaders who are out on point making this their personal imperative," she said.
The Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Awards Program was established in 1979. Installations, small groups and individuals from the Army, Army Reserve, and Army National Guard are eligible for consideration. Categories for the award include Energy Efficiency/Energy Management, Innovation and New Technology, Renewable/Alternatives, Water Conservation, and Demand Side Management/Load Shedding.
There were four awardees in the "Small Group" category for achievement in Renewable and Alternative Energy: Fort Hood, Texas; Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.; White Sands Missile Range, N.M.; and U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Ala.
Three installations were recognized for their achievements: the Presidio of Monterey, Calif., and Fort Stewart, Ga., were recognized for achievements in Energy Efficiency and Energy Management, while Fort Carson, Colo., was recognized for achievements in Water Conservation.
Mr. Todd Dirmeyer of Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., was awarded for individual achievement in Energy Efficiency and Energy Management.
AWARD SUMMARIES
- Fort Hood, Texas
Fort Hood invested $1.8 million of Energy Conservation and Investment Program (ECIP) funding to replace over 3,600 permanent split capacitor motors (PSC) with electronically commutated motors (ECM) for a projected lifetime savings of over $2.5 million. The ECM motors have a brushless permanent magnet design that is more efficient than the PSC motors commonly found in air handlers, furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioners and refrigerating applications. Various benefits include greater efficiency, less heat generation, less noise, soft ramp up, less power factor penalties and a longer lifespan. The effort resulted in an annual cost avoidance of $172,000 and saved 9 billion British thermal units (BTUs) of energy per year. Award recipients accepting the award included Mr. Bobby Lynn, Mr. Huey Keaton and Mr. Brian Dosa.
- Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
Focusing on one building, Picatinny Arsenal implemented human behavior modification plus replaced low efficiency lamps with high efficiency ones, installed occupancy controls on light switches, removed unnecessary electrical heating and retro-commissioned heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. These energy conservation measures were accomplished through service orders at a cost of about $10,000 and resulted in Building 65 being earning second place in the Federal Energy Management Program fiscal year 2013 Federal Better Building Competition, while also becoming Picatinny Arsenal's first Energy Star Certified Building. During the fiscal year 2012 to fiscal year 2013 period of measuring energy consumption for the competition, Picatinny Arsenal experienced 16 percent more heating degree days than the fiscal year 2012 baseline, accounting for their slight increase in total energy consumption for the building, although a cost avoidance of $13,500 was still achieved due to the cost of electricity per BTU being three times greater than the cost of natural gas per BTU during this period -- saving 523 million BTUs of energy per year. Award recipients and command representatives accepting the award included: Mr. James Douglas; Mr. Gary Pacella; Mr. Christian Urbiola; Mr. Ernest Logsdon; Garrison Commander, Lt. Col Ingrid Parker; and Senior Commander Picatinny Arsenal and Deputy Program Executive Officer Ammunition, Brig. Gen. Patrick Burden.
- White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
White Sands Missile Range constructed a $16.8 million, 4.5 megawatt ground-mounted solar photovoltaic power plant system spread across 42 acres. Construction was completed in December 2012, which was funded through an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC). The system includes: the ability to track the sun across the sky, a solar carport with a two car charging system, and can provide power for the headquarters building -- making it a Net Zero energy building. Power not consumed by the headquarters building is redirected to the government owned distribution system for use by other facilities. All energy generated is consumed by the installation. These efforts resulted in annual cost avoidance of $698,000 and save 30,000 million BTUs of energy per year. Award recipients and command representatives accepting the award included Mr. Craig Collins and Garrison Commander, Col. Brian Michelson.
- U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Ala.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) ESPC team at Huntsville, Ala., awarded 16 ESPC projects in 2013 with a combined capital investment of $188.6 million. The USACE Huntsville Center (CEHNC) is uniquely positioned to support the Army and Department of Defense using a large Multiple Task Order Contract (MATOC) to execute ESPC projects that is valued at $900 million. Their product delivery team approach incorporates multiple disciplines that are co-located to facilitate an effective, efficient and quicker award process. In recent years, CEHNC has reduced their ESPC award cycle time from 24 months to a range between 12 and 15 months, eliminating delays that result in loss of savings that average about $3,000 per day, while striving to obtain the competitive pricing and appropriate life cycle cost effectiveness needed to ensure best value to the Army. These efforts have resulted in annual cost avoidance of $6,700,000 and save 385,800 million BTUs of energy per year. Award recipients and command representatives accepting the award included Mr. Lawrence Michael Norton, Mr. William Irby, Mr. Bruce Forsberg, Ms. Margaret Simmons and Mr. Paul Robinson.
- Presidio of Monterey, Calif.
By manually reading the advanced electrical and natural gas meters installed in each of the energy intensive barracks buildings through the Army Meter Program, the Presidio of Monterey Directorate of Public Works (DPW) was able to develop an accurate energy distribution profile that revealed energy conservation opportunities. At low cost, over-illuminated corridors were partially de-lamped, twist timers for day room thermostats were installed, 80 percent of laundry machines were limited to cold water use, and signage was posted in barracks living quarters instructing occupants on how and when to operate their heating systems. DPW also installed dryer exhaust fan controls so fans could only operate when the dryers were running, and optimized boiler systems to use incrementally lower water temperatures during hot weather. These low cost actions, coupled with emphasis and coordination by garrison leadership, enabled the three worst performing barracks to become energy conservation standouts without negatively impacting occupants. Total cost of all energy conservation measures was $348,871 and resulted in an annual cost avoidance of $94,000 and savings of 6,450 million BTUs per year. Award recipients and command representatives accepting the award included Mr. Jay Tulley and Command Sgt. Maj. Andrew Wynn.
- Fort Stewart, Ga.
Fort Stewart undertook several energy conservation measures during the past two years to replace deteriorating and inefficient infrastructure, reduce energy consumption and improve the quality of life for Soldiers, their Family members and the Fort Stewart community. Inefficient oil fired boilers were replaced with natural gas fired condensing boilers and hot water heaters to replace a failing high temperature water distribution system; advanced street lighting controls were installed with intelligent photo control sensors to control lighting fixtures; and inefficient HVAC pumps, chillers and cooling towers were replaced with variable frequency drive equipped systems. Much of the actual work on these projects was performed by DPW in-house personnel, which significantly improved the cost effectiveness and return on investment. These efforts resulted in an annual cost avoidance of $242,325 and an energy savings of 12,000 million BTUs per year. Award recipients and command representatives accepting the award included Mr. Fred Pierre-Louis and Garrison Commander, Col. Kevin Gregory.
- Fort Carson, Colo.
Fort Carson used a $2 million ESPC to fund water fixture replacement projects and reduce water consumption. Water conservation efforts were undertaken to meet Net Zero reduction goals, mandated water reductions and comply with local restrictions. The reduced water consumption significantly reduced natural gas consumption due to less hot water passing through showerheads and sinks. Retrofitting included changing 2,292 toilets from 1.6 or greater to 1.28 gallons per flush, upgrading 3,971 aerators from 1.5 or greater to 0.5 gallons per minute, replacing 2,088 showerheads from 2.0 or greater to 1.0 gallons per minute, and replacing 145 urinals from 1.0 or greater to 0.125 gallons per flush. These actions allowed Fort Carson to reduce water consumption by about 54 million gallons of water within one year and achieve a 41 percent water reduction for fiscal year 2013 compared to the fiscal year 2007 baseline, far exceeding the established fiscal year 2013 goal of 26 percent. This resulted in annual cost avoidance of $285,000 and saved 7,800 million BTUs of energy per year. Award recipients and command representatives accepting the award included Mr. Don Phillips and Garrison Commander, Col. Joel Hamilton
- Individual Award
While serving as Energy Manager for the Fort Hunter Liggett and Parks Reserve Forces Training Area (RFTA), Calif., Mr. Todd Dirmeyer developed a robust program of energy, water and waste technologies to meet energy and water conservation mandates, policies and strategies. A major accomplishment was the implementation of a long term renewable energy project with an online dashboard for the Fort Hunter Liggett solar array. The project was phased over several years, with the first 1.1 megawatt of solar power coming on line in April 2012, the second in August 2013, and the third in July 2014, along with complimenting on-site grid energy storage. He also was instrumental in planning a similar solar project at Parks RFTA which is currently in design and intended to achieve complete independence from the local electrical grid. His effort resulted in an annual cost avoidance of $1,686,261 and saved 37.7 billion BTUs of energy per year. Joining Mr. Dirmeyer in receiving the award was Garrison Commander, Col. Donna Williams.
"I have seen these installations in action and have marveled at the diversity and complexity of the tasks our installation teams perform every day. It is right and fitting that we take time to honor their successes and say thank you," Hammack said.
Hammack ended her remarks by issuing a challenge.
"I challenge all the installation and commands not represented here today to refocus their efforts, reach out to their communities and leaders, and use all the tools, skills and enthusiasm I know are such an integral part of the installation management community to ensure that next year they are here and we can celebrate their excellence and innovation. In that way, we will truly develop installations that are Net Zero, resilient and mission ready."
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Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations, Energy and Environment)
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