Fort A.P. Hill breaks ground for U.S. Army Reserve Center

By Mrs. Jennifer Erickson, A.P. HillNovember 16, 2011

Fort A.P. Hill breaks ground for U.S. Army Reserve Center
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Fort A.P. Hill and community members joined to welcome the post's newest construction project at a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday.

More than 30 people gathered at the site of the U.S. Army Reserve Center on the northeast corner of Fort A.P. Hill Drive and Campbell Road.

"Today we celebrate the groundbreaking of the U.S. Army Reserve Center, a building that will be environmentally friendly while ultimately providing training and administrative space for our Soldiers," said Lt. Col. Jack Haefner, Fort A.P. Hill garrison commander.

By December 2012, the site now covered with brush will transform into a 33,170 square-foot training facility for a brand new Multi-Role Bridge Company.

The Soldiers can look forward to administrative, educational and assembly areas; a library, vault, maintenance shop and storage building.

"Soldiers will be able to hone their combat skills at an indoor non-live fire weapons simulator … as well as maintain their physique at a physical fitness area," Haefner said.

The brand new company would bring 12 full-time personnel and 185 reservists to the Reserve Center. Reservists work Monday through Friday and train one weekend per month and two weeks annually.

The Reserve Center comes to Fort A.P. Hill as a part of the Grow the Army program which supports the Army's goal to sustain force readiness, match Army force capabilities with mission requirements, and preserve Soldier and family quality of life.

"It is our goal to ensure fulfillment of both today's and tomorrow's missions to standard by managing resources, conserving and securing energy, and operating and building future capabilities to achieve the Army's Triple Bottom Line of Mission, Community and Environment. The Reserve Center will achieve that goal," Haefner said.

Fort A.P. Hill's mission is to provide realistic joint and combined arms training support to America's Defense Forces.

"It is one we consider an honor and a privilege," Haefner said. "In keeping with that mission, the estimated 15.5 million-dollar Reserve Center will better support our sons and daughters in uniform--our Soldiers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will manage the project and contractors Charpe and Korte join to design and build the center.

The center will be built in accordance with U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, internationally recognized sustainable building standards. The standards include energy efficiency, water conservation, reuse of materials and occupant health and comfort.

The Army replaced its own Sustainable Project Rating Tool with LEED several years ago. Beginning in fiscal 2008, the Army required all new military construction projects to meet the LEED Silver rating standard. By October 2010, the Army required all buildings starting in fiscal 2013 Military Construction program to be certified LEED Silver.

The project is contracted to be a certified LEED Gold, the second highest of LEED ratings, and join the Army's inventory of 10 Gold certified, 11 Silver certified and 301 registered projects, according to the U.S. Green Building Council database.

"Overall, it's a smarter way to plan, design and build which ultimately lower costs," Haefner said.

Some Reserve Center features include:

- Sustainable exterior finish materials that are long lasting and require little to no maintenance, thus saving taxpayer dollars. An example includes a metal roof that will provide a 40-60 year lifecycle as opposed to the 12-20 year lifecycle asphalt shingles offer.

- Building orientation and floor plan design that offers greater exterior window exposure so that occupied interior spaces can benefit from natural daylight and ventilation.

- A high efficient ground source heat pump system that saves energy, while

reducing the dependency on fossil fuels.

- Using building materials made with recycled content.

- High efficient LED site lighting that is dark skies compliant, minimizing

light pollution to surrounding areas and innovative stormwater management on site.

"This is all part of the Army's holistic Net Zero approach which increases our ability to achieve the larger goal of sustainable installations," Haefner said.

Installations reach net zero through five interrelated steps of reduction; repurposing; recycling and composting; energy recovery; and disposal.

As the Army conducts an extremely complex process of managing the business of living, working and training on installations, use and production of resources must balance so there's no over consumption or waste, Haefner said.

"The most exciting part of the Army Net Zero vision is this: we all have a part to play in it," Haefner added. "This Reserve Center is one of those projects with vision. Capital energy projects are few and far between, but it is the drive of the customer, in this case, the U.S. Army Reserve, who wished to take a lead role in Net Zero initiatives are a part of this strong desire towards sustainable installations. They have taken up the challenge, Fort A.P. Hill will help them realize it, the Corps of Engineers will manage the project, Charpe will design it and Korte will build it."

During the ceremony, Tom Lyerla, Charpe-Korte project executive and Mike Roach, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager, joined Haefner with hard hats and gold shovels to break ground for the center.

"Fort A.P. Hill is proud of all her training facilities and flexibility which she provides for almost 100,000 Warriors who train here every year. This center … upholds that motto to provide, 'The Best Training and Support--Anywhere,'" Haefner said.