Secretary of the Army Energy & Water Management Awards Presented at the Energy Exchange Symposium

By Dennis K. BohannonAugust 23, 2017

Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Award recipients
Many of the forty-nine recipients of 2017 Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Awards gather following the awards ceremony with Mr. Randy Robinson, acting assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment (front r... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

PENTAGON - Mr. J. Randall Robinson, acting assistant secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy and Environment, and Ms. Carla Coulson, acting deputy assistant chief of staff for Installation Management, presented thirteen 2017 Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Awards to recipients during the Energy Exchange Symposium held in Tampa Florida.

The Awards are presented in categories related to energy efficiency, energy management, and water conservation.

Speaking at the symposium, Robinson said, "From the installation perspective, we know that Installation readiness is critical to warfighter readiness. The Army has 156 Installations and a total of almost a billion square feet in building space.

"Those installations provide direct support to our operational warfighter in both operational requirements and as power projection platforms. The Army's new doctrine, 'Multi-Domain Battle' recognizes the contribution that installations make to the war fight and explicitly includes them in the battle space as part of the "strategic support area.

"Because of this, the Army's Installation efforts are focused on readiness and mission accomplishment through commodity reduction and energy and water security improvement."

This year's award recipients included individuals and organizations who made significant contributions to energy and water efficiency within the U.S. Army and federal government.

By category, they recipients are:

Energy Conservation

Fort A.P. Hill

The energy team at Fort A.P. Hill achieved dramatic reductions in energy consumption through numerous energy efficiency projects and an aggressive building management program. The team is Roderick Troy Smith, Sergio Sergi, Terry Banks and Mr. Benjamin McBride. Their projects include the installation of an exterior finish and insulation system on ten transient training barracks; replacement of fuel oil fired hot water boilers and split system air conditioning units in three dining facilities with more efficient and cleaner hybrid systems; and the installation of high-efficient windows in training support buildings. Fort A.P. Hill also reduced consumption through the use of controls software for heating, ventilation, and air condition (HVAC) systems; active implementation and monitoring of heating and cooling set points; and collection and analysis of building meter data to identify and resolve irregularities in electric consumption. Further, Fort A.P. Hill reduced the use of fuel oil for building heat by 93 percent, eliminating the need for environmentally-problematic storage tanks and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

USAG Daegu

The U.S. Army Garrison - Daegu Energy Office, comprised of Joshua Seo, Hyein Song and In Ki Hong, reduced energy intensity by over 10 percent in fiscal year 2016 by leveraging $4.8 million in energy modernization funding and an Energy Savings Performance Contract to upgrade mechanical systems and lighting by installing cool roof technology and installing solar tube lighting systems. An important secondary benefit of these upgrades is an estimated 12 percent reduction in corrective maintenance. The energy office also completed actionable comprehensive energy and water assessments in-house, and is using the results to inform future plans and projects. Finally, the energy team actively engaged with the local high school and elementary school to encourage energy and water conservation. These outreach efforts strengthen the garrison's relationship with the local community and promote international support for the Army.

Water Conservation

Fort Irwin

Through a very robust program, led by Col. G. Scott Taylor, Muhammad Bari, Chris Woodruff, Sandy Key and Edgar Ortusiástigue, Fort Irwin reduced water consumption 10 percent in fiscal year 2016. Fort Irwin completed construction on a $100 million water treatment plant. The new plant has a water recovery rate of over 99 percent, substantially reducing waste in the treatment process. Replacement of water laterals and construction of a new recycled water line for irrigation through the utilities privatization contract, reduced potable water consumption 11.9 million gallons in fiscal year 2016. The energy team also joined with their privatized housing contractor to initiate mock billing of housing residences, which reduced water consumption by 26 percent in the housing area alone. These and other projects enabled Fort Irwin to reduce water consumption by over 67 million gallons in a single year. Given its location in drought-stricken California, the reduced demand on water is particularly important to Fort Irwin's energy and water security.

Fort McCoy

Fort McCoy achieved an incredible reduction in water consumption of 27 percent from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2016. Michael Miller, Russell Sanborn, Emmet Peterson, Robert Thompson and Brad Noth, led major efforts that contributed to this feat including changes to irrigation patterns, replacement of 1940s-era water mains, synchronization of fire flow testing with annual distribution system flushing, and plumbing fixture retrofits. Additionally, close monitoring and maintenance of the chlorine residual in the potable water system enabled Fort McCoy to reduce annual costs associated with disinfection chemicals by 75 percent, compared to other municipalities in the state.

Sierra Army Depot

Sierra Army Depot, through the efforts of Nora Chamberlain, James Lightbody, Peter Lightbody, Robert Miller and Richard Wing, reduced water consumption by over 25 percent from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2016, primarily through aggressively implementing low cost/no cost measures. This is an exceptional achievement. These measures include stringent restrictions of lawn irrigation, reduction of operation hours at wash rack facilities, and installation of low flow shower heads in on-base apartments and barracks. They also completed repairs to unused water wells and activated them for dust suppression and irrigation, eliminating the use of potable water for these activities.

Innovation and New Technology

Aberdeen Proving Ground

Spearheading the Secretary of the Army's goal to increase construction of combined heat and power combined heat and power (CHP) plants on Army installations, Richard Pomraning, Daniel Hewitt, Arnold O'Sullivan, Jeffrey Presgraves and Devon Rock oversaw Aberdeen Proving Ground's building a 7.9 megawatt natural gas-fired CHP plant through their Energy Savings Performance Contract. The plant generates electricity and steam for their Edgewood cantonment area. By providing on-source generation, this improves APG's energy security posture for both electricity and steam by providing on-source generation. The cleaner technology and increased efficiency of the plant also substantially reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The APG energy team exploited grants and incentives through the Federal Energy Management Program and their local utility provider, which will together net the garrison over $3 million.

Maine Army National Guard

The Maine Army National Guard (MEARNG) installed a 75 kilowatt CHP unit in an aviation support facility in Bangor, Maine as a test pilot for micro CHP systems, thanks to the efforts of Col. Normand Michaud, A.J. Ballard, Paul Lapointe, Mark Roberts and Rob Coburn. This project enhances energy security by significantly reducing energy demand and generating electricity and heat for MEARNG's largest facility on site. Through this successful application of micro CHP, MEARNG has demonstrated a cost-effective approach to improving energy resilience that can be transferred across the Army. This system became fully operational in early fiscal year 2016 and resulted in a 28 percent reduction in energy bills for the fiscal year. The MEARNG team conducted numerous outreach tours and presentations on the merits of micro CHP to promote the applicability of this innovative, cost-effective solution.

Energy Program Effectiveness

Fort Carson

Scott Clark, Vince Guthrie, Susan Galentine, Kerry Laughlin and Lionel Montoya of Fort Carson employed an array of resources, including an Energy Savings Performance Contract, energy modernization funds, the Energy Conservation Investment Program, and the Resource Efficiency Manager contract to improve energy efficiency, reduce potable water use, and modify processes for operational savings. They also engaged with their privatized housing partner to develop a three megawatt rooftop solar project with a third party developer, increasing their total solar power capacity to over 8 megawatts. Finally, Fort Carson established a Net Zero Unit contest, in which they used funds from the Qualified Recycling Program to incentive units to implement measures to reduce energy, water, and waste. These comprehensive efforts enabled Fort Carson to reduce its energy intensity by 10 percent and water intensity by 44 percent in five years.

Presidio of Monterey

The Presidio of Monterey (POM) smartly targeted its largest energy user, a 365,000 square feet administrative building with a large data center, which consumed 19 percent of the garrison's total energy in fiscal year 2016. Through the Energy Conservation Investment Program (ECIP) and a Utility Energy Services Contract (UESC), Jay Tulley, John Wallingford, Gary George and Capt. Robert Etheridge undertook and completed three major projects in a four-year span that reduced energy consumption by 37 percent, reduced landscaping water by 70 percent, and added one megawatt of solar power. POM used a UESC to comprehensively retrofit the building's mechanical and lighting systems. Through xeriscaping and the installation of a passive irrigation system for the associated athletic field, they reduced landscaping water by 70 percent in fiscal year 2016. They installed the ECIP-funded solar system in a microgrid configuration to enable an islanding mode during power outages and to run in parallel with existing back-up generators. Combined with the reduced energy demand, this extends the operational time of the facility during sustained outages. This multi-pronged approach significantly improved the building's performance and energy security and saves the garrison $759,000 per year in utility bills.

USAG Hawaii

U.S. Army Garrison-Hawaii's energy team, Keith Yamanaka, Ted Robinson, Santiago Hernandez, Andrew Nyerges and Scott Bly, employed innovative methods to decrease energy cost and consumption, increase renewable energy, and enhance energy resilience. The energy team astutely pursued two major efforts that required no capital investments yet yielded enormous savings. In collaboration with their local utility, they optimized their natural gas account, developed an innovative rate structure and metering methodology that enabled reimbursable tenants to increase use of grid-tied solar power, and facilitated inter-connection processes. These efforts resulted in savings of nearly $10 million and increased solar production/consumption by nearly 13,000 megawatt hours. The energy team achieved additional reductions in energy consumption and costs through a robust Building Energy Monitor program and by installing magnetic bearing chillers and variable refrigerant flow HVAC systems. Despite a 7.7 percent increase in facility square footage, altogether they reduced energy costs $12.3 million and reduced energy consumption 90,233 MBTU. Further, the energy team partnered with Office of Energy Initiatives, the Hawaiian Electric Executive Committee, and the privatized housing contractor to improve USAG Hawaii's energy security through the installation of distributed generation.

Individual Exceptional Performance

Mr. Jack Porter, Jr., Fort Huachuca

At Fort Huachuca, Jack Porter, Jr collaborated with Defense Logistics Agency, South West Gas, and the Directorate of Contracting to develop a new contract to purchase natural gas on the open market. This new procurement method saves the Army 20 percent in natural gas purchases compared to the previous contract. Mr. Porter also teamed with the Office of Energy Initiatives and Tucson Electric Power to complete the second phase of a privately financed solar array. Through Porter's efforts, the project team learned from costly mistakes made during the first phase of the project and effectively navigated issues during execution, successfully completing the project. Mr. Porter demonstrated the impacts can person can make in a short time that result in significant benefits to their installation.

Mr. Michael Haltiner, South Dakota ARNG

As the driving force behind the South Dakota Army National Guard's energy program, Michael Haltiner consistently made his state one of the Army National Guard's top performers in energy conservation. In a five-year span, Haltiner executed 39 projects, reducing energy intensity more than 18 percent. His portfolio of accomplishments includes passive heating solar walls, direct digital controls, lighting upgrades, and boiler replacements. Haltiner also promoted energy conservation across the state by implementing a Facility Biggest Energy Reducer competition and publishing a quarterly newsletter. Thanks to Hatliner's tireless efforts, the South Dakota Army National Guard is less reliant on commercial grid and is more energy secure.

Mr. Thomas Raffello, USAG Italy

Thomas Raffello proved the enormous payoff that can be realized from combining intellect with teamwork and determination. In collaboration with the regional contracting office, Rafello led an intensive effort to research the most cost-effective options for the electrical supplier contract for U.S. Army Garrison - Italy. He methodically analyzed the electrical utilities on the garrison and scrupulously researched the regulated electrical market in Italy. His efforts culminated in the development of a new contract that saved the Army €703,162 in its first seven months, which is an equivalent annual savings of $1.34 million at the current exchange rate, an altogether extraordinary achievement.

The Secretary of the Army Energy and Water Management Awards Program was established in 1979 to recognize installations, small groups, and individuals who make significant achievements in energy conservation and water management in support of Army readiness. This program encourages stewardship of energy and water resources, promotes innovative and effective program management, and reinforces the importance of sound investments in energy and water facilities and infrastructure to improve mission readiness. It recognizes significant achievements in advancing the Army's energy and water program strategic goals, improving energy security and sustainability on Army installations.

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