Good stewardship of taxpayer funding and natural resources is a Department of Defense priority with facilities worldwide looking toward more efficient methods of operating.
Fort Irwin and the National Training Center are no different, even leading by example when it comes to embracing high-tech solutions to energy requirements and natural resource conservation. Several major projects are currently in progress.
"We are building a 1-megawatt concentrated solar photo voltaic farm, a waste-to-energy plant -- that will take our municipal waste and turn it into useable power -- and a new water treatment plant guaranteed to exceed a recovery rate of 99 percent," said Muhammad Bari, Fort Irwin's director of public works. "We're also making use of many different types of state-of-the art energy conservation systems that will help us move toward a NET Zero foot print."
NET Zero projects refer to buildings or operations with a "net zero" energy consumption, meaning the amount of energy used annually is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy created at the site. The end result from a DoD perspective is a friendlier environmental footprint and huge cost savings to American taxpayers.
BRINGING THE HIGH DESERT INTO THE 21ST CENTURY
"Community involvement is key to sustaining training mission at NTC," said Bari. "Net-Zero and NTC's energy security ensure the success of our mission. Introduction of new technologies at NTC actually brings the High Desert into the 21st century."
Efforts at Fort Irwin haven't gone unnoticed by civic leaders in the High Desert area who, in an effort to cut costs and conserve natural resources locally, have sought out legitimate options. That quest brought members of the Hesperia Chamber of Commerce to Fort Irwin recently for an overview of NET Zero projects and other energy saving initiatives being employed.
"The most impressive project is still under construction, so we were impressed just standing on a windy hilltop watching cranes move equipment into place, but we weren't looking at the cranes as much as looking into the future," said Brad Letner, president and CEO of the Hesperia Chamber of Commerce. Hesperia, a city of approximately 90,000 residents, is about 80-miles southwest of Irwin and is looking to lead the charge in the high desert's public sector.
"The waste-to-energy facility, once it comes online, will have the ability to divert well over 90% of waste from landfills, but not just divert it, consume it for energy - even 'mining' existing landfills to fuel the power plant," emphasized Letner. "And even after the diversion and energy generation, most of the leftover 'char' still has reusable potential for fertilizer and stabilizer. That was a real gem in the desert."
NET ZERO AT FORT IRWIN
Letner said that "thanks to Fort Irwin's recent outreach to area cities, we were aware of the cutting edge 'net zero' advances at Fort Irwin. We believed that visiting Fort Irwin, the site of some 'first in the nation' type advances, would challenge us to also seek new ways of accomplishing long time goals."
Fort Irwin, a small city in its own right, has undertaken an aggressive posture, hoping to reach NET Zero waste by 2017 and NET Zero energy by 2020, according to Bari.
"This visit will definitely help Hesperia engage our energy challenges and waste management," said Letner. "One of our directors, Jakob Bath, is the operations officer of Advance Disposal. He has consistently been at the forefront of improving their waste management operations to not just meet but stay well ahead of California landfill diversion requirements.
"This visit offered him the challenge to continue to embrace new and emerging technology and techniques that I'd bet we'll see in the coming years in our local areas. All of our board of directors are leaders in our community and engaged at many levels. The projects we saw at Fort Irwin gave us not only the knowledge of cutting edge methods of energy conservation and energy generation, but also established a personal relationship with Fort Irwin leaders who made them happen. Over the next three to four years, I believe our directors will be able to share those lessons learned with people making development decisions that will result in similar projects being done here in Hesperia.
"Fort Irwin has set a high standard in overcoming the challenge of time and distance to engage and partner with their local communities," emphasized Letner. "Fort Irwin has embraced and been selected for several Department of Defense-level tests and initiatives, and sharing those lessons with surrounding cities made our 90-minute trip well worth the time and effort. In return, every single member of our board of directors was impressed by the professionalism of our Soldiers and civilians and went away with their support of Fort Irwin and our military as a whole was strengthened."
"Fort Irwin is a major partner in bringing new resources to High Desert," agreed Bari. "We team up with Barstow, Apple Valley and Hesperia Chamber of Commerce and High Desert chapter of SAME (Society of American Military Engineers) to discuss our future plans, so the local businesses can participate in the NTC mission success. Our public works staff is always available to support the High Desert Community."
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