Photo By Lt. Col. Deanna Bague | The assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment,...... read more read more
FORT BLISS, Texas – Fort Bliss leadership hosted the assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and environment, Katherine Hammack, during her Nov. 4. tour of Fort Bliss. Officials escorted Hammack to various sites that demonstrate how Fort Bliss is pursuing sustainable concepts.
One of the sites Hammack said made an impact was the desalination plant. The plant is the result of a joint project between Fort Bliss and El Paso Water Utilities. According to El Paso Water Utilities officials, this desalination facility produces 27.5 million gallons of fresh water daily.
“It was amazing to hear today that in the water planning, they’re planning out for the next 300 years,” said Hammack. “That’s appropriate stewardship for our children – for the next generation of our children’s children – and that’s exactly what we need to be doing as a nation. Really, what makes this installation stand out is the stewardship of water.”
Hammack said water is an increasingly scarce resource and the drought projections over the next 10 to 20 years are alarming. Several areas that were considered to be very moist and humid are going to be facing increasing drought situations, added Hammack.
“Focusing on it early and investing in it is really the way forward and is a best practice,” Hammack said.
Fort Bliss Commanding General Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard said the post was honored by Hammack’s visit.
“We’re very happy to host the honorable Ms. Katherine Hammack who brings a wealth of experience on both the environment and energy, and of course installations,” said Pittard.
Pittard said Fort Bliss has a very strong team that is moving in the right direction toward meeting the goal of becoming net zero by the year 2015. Achieving net zero would mean producing more renewable energy than is consumed.
Fort Bliss is experiencing the largest expansion since World War II, said Pittard, and with that is the challenge of conserving resources while also building up the post.
Utilizing renewable energy and being energy conscious and more efficient are all part of the Army’s sustainability goal, said BJ Tomlinson, the renewable energy and sustainable engineering program manager for the Fort Bliss Directorate of Public Works.
Tomlinson said he will aggressively pursue Pittard’s goal for the post.
“The facility, Fort Bliss, needs to be 100 percent renewable energy – net zero – by 2015, and that’s December 31st, 2015,” said Tomlinson.
Tomlinson said the biggest challenge is the money involved in getting the different projects put in place, and generating the power.
“We’re not using space-age, cutting-edge technology that nobody knows if it will work or not,” Tomlinson said. “These are commercial projects that are already being done. It’s just a matter of finding out the right business case and working with the Army to find out how to integrate those into Fort Bliss in order to make Fort Bliss the 100 percent renewable goal by 2015.”
Tomlinson said the larger renewable energy projects are going to have to be partnerships with industry. What Fort Bliss brings to the table with regard to getting these projects off the ground, he said, is the land.
Fort Bliss has been pursing sustainable concepts such as well-insulated buildings, getting rid of swamp air-conditioning coolers and going more toward a closed-cycle refrigerated air where you can control the temperature of the building and make it more efficient, said Tomlinson. The post is also exploring photovoltaic panels on buildings in order to offset the energy the building requires to operate, he added.
Pittard said he is committed to ensuring Fort Bliss becomes the premier installation not just for training but also for taking care of families and soldiers. “And that our civilians, families and Soldiers want to live, work and play here,” said Pittard.
Hammack and senior Fort Bliss leaders signed the Army Family Covenant and pledged their support for military families during a signing ceremony.
“Fort Bliss really is stepping up in their responsibility to the families and to the environment – it’s really amazing what’s going on here,” said Hammack.
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.07.2010 12:28 |
| Story ID: | 59614 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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