Focused on federal energy initiatives that seek potential alternative energy and innovation as a means to stimulate the economy, protect the environment and increase America's energy independence, the Aberdeen Proving Ground Garrison Energy Program has taken major steps to reach goals affecting the consumption and procurement of energy.
Meeting mission requirements and providing quality working conditions for Soldiers and APG employees is the team's focus, according to Edward Staats, a member of the APG Energy Action Team and MCFA Planning.
Staats said that the Energy Team has identified investments of more than $40 million in energy efficiency projects and that using initiatives outlined in the Army Energy Strategy for Installations, the Army Energy & Water Campaign Plan for Installations and Executive Order 13423, APG has "taken action to set and reach goals affecting the consumption and procurement of energy."
"The energy team is committed to reaching out to all commands to reduce energy and water consumption and increase the use of renewable energy," he said.
Central to this effort is the APG Building Operations Command Center, BOCC. Located in building 345, the BOCC is a state-of-the-art intelligent operations and asset management system that manages all building operations by combining energy reporting, metering, building controls, space planning, work management and operations and asset management.
From this single site, BOCC managers and staff can monitor and react to all alerts and alarms, maintenance alerts, work order tracking, inventory management and budget threshold data in every building on the installation.
For example, the system can notify managers of a boiler problem in a specific building, identify and trouble-shoot the problem, advise actions, create and prioritize a work order, suggest materials needed to alleviate the problem and monitor the incident status.
The system includes a persistent alarm system that will continue to flash on the screen until repairs are made and documented.
"The BOCC prioritizes work and produces its own energy saving report so that managers know which buildings are meeting energy goals and which are not," Staats said.
In addition, the BOCC provides information for Directorate of Public Works managers to track operations costs and performance indicators for budget reports and generate savings and tenant statements. And, it allows the energy manager the ability to track essential data such as energy procurement data, tenant billing and reporting, energy consumption reports, budget thresholds, cost avoidance reports and energy benchmarks.
The Implementation Strategy comes under the 2012 Management Plan for the installation and includes ensuring campus designs for C4ISR in the Aberdeen Area and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense in the Edgewood Area is compatible with the BOCC, Staats said.
The BOCC has drawn the interest of Army leaders such as Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody, commander, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Lt. Gen. James H. Pillsbury, AMC deputy commanding general; Russell B. Hall, director, Installation Management Command Northeast Region, and IMCOM-NE Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Chavez, who visited the facility in March, as well as Maj. Gen. Paul S. Izzo, commander of APG and the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command.
"In the long run, our combined efforts not only save money but also help increase the demand for innovation in energy efficiency and other environmental technologies, which in turn, create jobs for Americans," Staats said. "Every action we take - from turning off lights in unoccupied rooms to turning off computer monitors - adds up to a brighter future for us all.
"Additionally, a decrease in energy costs is an increase in the funds available to meet other mission-critical needs," he said.
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