T
o achieve the sustainability goals mandated by multiple national and defense directives, including net zero energy, water,
and waste, Army installations face a com- plex set of challenges. Strategic decisions about which approaches to use and which technologies to adopt must be based on an integrated analysis at the community level. For example, a renewable energy technology may require a very high vol- ume of water to operate, so while fossil fuel use can be reduced, it will hurt water conservation efforts.
Sustainability will bring numerous ben- oil, reducing greenhouse gases, and ensur- ing environmental stewardship to sustain installations for future generations. From an operational
perspective, a
industry, ERDC is on track to deliver products that will help installations and contingency bases meet
sustainability
requirements while improving Soldiers’ quality of life.
Following are details of key initiatives in this arena.
SUSTAINABLE FIXED INSTALLATIONS
self-suf-
Soldiers can continue to accomplish their missions in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack on the infrastructure.
Contingency bases will gain the same advantages
by becoming water conservation, sustainable,
- serving and producing energy on-site, maximizing
and
reducing waste equate to fewer supply convoys
required, eliminating risk for
Soldiers and freeing them to focus on more mission-related tasks.
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Construc- tion Engineering Research Laboratory is involved in research and development (R&D) addressing all
ability. In partnership with other experts from
government, academia, and
To run NZI-E, an installation needs only to input information that already exists: geographic
information system
maps to show building types and uses, weather data, economic factors (utility rate
structures, equipment installation facets of sustain-
and maintenance costs, fuel prices), and documentation for existing equipment. Once the data and facilities have been added to the program, baseline energy
Toward net-zero installations: A new planning tool ready to be launched this year is the Net Zero Installations Energy (NZI-E) virtual testbed for energy anal- ysis that generates optimal, life-cycle analyzes energy generation, reuse, and conservation strategies using nonlinear network energy models and clustering - ing facilities with complementary energy
Net Zero Installations Energy Waste and Water (NZI-EW2) builds on the NZI-E framework to support installation mas- ter planning for energy, water, and waste through an integrated modeling capabil- ity for optimizing resources.
Cost/energy
curves
and
savings-to-
investment ratios (SIRs) are generated for - gested for each building type, and load step for cluster analysis.
After the tool optimizes all facilities, the user can identify clusters of buildings suitable for district
energy
solutions.
NZI-E then produces potential clus- ter equipment packages based on the installation and region. It also generates including centralized and decentralized options. The tool then determines and optimizes equipment and pipe sizes (elec- tric, thermal, hydraulic) and performs economic simulations. It also calculates
The result is an integrated demand reduc- tion and supply solution that provides the sizing along with initial and operating costs of every piece of equipment in the lowest-cost solution. In addition, instal- lations receive a prioritized list of projects with suggested phasing plans.
Preventing energy losses through building envelopes: The airtightness of a building enclosure or envelope is a major factor in the building’s overall energy consumption. Energy required to heat, cool, and control humidity
increases
transfer through the enclosure as well as by convection.
An intact, continuous air barrier can reduce a building’s energy consumption by as much as 45 percent, usually at lit- tle or no extra cost to a construction or
A HOLISTIC VIEW The Virtual Forward Operating Base set of tools uses a holistic systems approach to planning sustainable contingency bases. (Photo by U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Public Affairs Office)
ASC.ARMY.MIL
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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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