In this issue
		Energy Services Bulletin home page
		Energy Services Bulletin moves to monthly publishing schedule
		Ft. Carson sustainability program honors Western employee for support
		Luke AFB takes energy efficiency to new heights
		Western workshops prepare for demand-side management revival
		Topics from the Power Line: Consider cost in determining most effective level of insulation
		Energy shorts
		Calendar of events

Ft. Carson sustainability program honors Western employee for support

The SolarWall panels Fort Carson installed on a vehicle maintenance building improve ventilation and save energy costs. (Photo by Fort Carson)

One of the most satisfying things about being a Western Energy Services specialist is supporting a customer program that sets the standard for environmental leadership, like the Fort Carson Sustainability Program. When such a customer recognizes Western's contribution to its efforts, it holds special significance.

Rocky Mountain Energy Services Specialist Peggy Plate received the Excellence in Sustainable Resources award at the Army base's Fifth Annual Community Sustainability Conference and Expo, Nov. 8, in Colorado Springs.

"Peggy's efforts increase our ability to sustain facility energy from renewable sources and reflect great credit on herself, Western and Fort Carson," said Colonel James Balocki, when he presented her with the award at the Nov. 8 Ice Breaker dinner.

The award encompasses two different projects—one for Fort Carson to purchase renewable energy certificates through Western's Renewable Resources for Federal Agencies and the other to bring a large photovoltaic system to Fort Carson.

"Fort Carson has a goal to be 100 percent renewable by 2030," said Plate. "The base is one of the leaders in sustainability, particularly in the Army. Western should be proud to be a part of Fort Carson's success."

Renewable energy successes

With its five-year contract through Western to purchase 40,000 MWh/year of RECs from wind and biomass energy, Fort Carson now gets 28 percent of its power from renewable resources. "More, if you count our hydropower allocation from Western," said Utility Programs Manager Vince Guthrie, who nominated Plate for the award.

A passive solar collector wall on a large motor pool building and some solar-powered street lights and signs add a few more kW toward the base's ultimate goal, Guthrie noted, but the 2-MW PV array Plate is coordinating will be the base's first major solar project. The system will provide only a small amount of non-firm renewable energy, but it is groundbreaking in its location—a former landfill Fort Carson is donating. 

"These sites have to be closed out according to strict environmental regulations, so the opportunities for reuse are very limited," explained Susan Galentine, spokesperson for Ft. Carson's Directorate of Environmental Compliance and Management. "It's a big accomplishment to give a landfill a second life for a sustainable purpose."

Fort Carson will receive the non-firm energy, and the green tags will be sold to Xcel through its renewable energy program. An added benefit, according to Plate, is the number of people who will learn more about renewable energy because of the project. "This provides an opportunity to educate a large number of military people who spend at least some portion of their career on this base," she explained.

Community helps set goals

The renewable energy goal is one of 12 sustainability goals identified at Fort Carson's first regional conference in 2002. "We invited community leaders, representatives from potential partner organizations and interested individuals," said Galentine. "More than 200 people attended the first Community Sustainability Conference, and the event gets bigger every year."

Attendees at the first conference listened to presentations by sustainability experts, and then broke up into workshops and committees. The goals and ideas the groups generated became Fort Carson's Sustainability Program, a 25-year plan to protect the land, water and air resources of the installation and surrounding community.

Some Sustainability Program initiatives and projects, like the REC purchase, have produced quick and encouraging results. "We've had a lot success on the utility side," said Fort Carson Sustainability Planner Hal Alguire.

Since 2000, Fort Carson's total water use has decreased by 45 percent despite an increase of more than one million square feet of new construction. "Irrigation is 50 percent of our use, so installing rain sensors and minimizing turf areas has had a big impact," said Guthrie.

Galentine pointed out that Fort Carson's commitment to water conservation predates the Sustainability Program by many years. "The Central Vehicle Wash Facility, built in 1990, saves 150 to 200 million gallons per year by washing all military vehicles with recycled wastewater. Water conservation is central to sustainability in a semi-arid climate like ours," she added.

Sustainability a long-term process

Vision and long-term planning are also critical to Fort Carson's Sustainability Program. "We've made some great strides, but fostering sustainable patterns and development takes time," said Alguire. "It takes a master plan that you have to follow over the long haul."

With a military installation, he continued, that means providing land for training exercises. "Training soldiers is Fort Carson's function, and encroachment on our borders hurts our ability to do that," the planner explained.

In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, Fort Carson funded acquisition of conservation leases on 56,000 acres of private land and acquired permanent conservation easements on 12,000 acres on its southern and eastern boundary. El Paso County joined TNC and Fort Carson for a 15-parcel acquisition of five-acre, undeveloped lots on the county's eastern boundary. The partnership initiated another acquisition of 44 additional parcels last year.

Preserving open space for training is not the only challenge Fort Carson must address in its master plan. The Army's Base Realignment and Closure process will bring new military units, soldiers and their families to the area, all requiring housing and facilities. Future development will incorporate smart growth principles and strategies, and green building practices to meet those needs in a sustainable fashion.

Partnerships necessary

An ambitious plan like Fort Carson's Sustainability Program takes teamwork—not only among base personnel but with the wider community. It is not surprising that four of the program's 12 goals involve internal training or public outreach. "Our stakeholders e-mail list keeps growing," acknowledged Galentine.

As the program's annual report puts it, "partnering with organizations outside the fence line" is increasingly crucial to Fort Carson's ability to prepare soldiers and military units for deployments, while embracing sustainability. Locally, Fort Carson initiated the Pikes Peak Sustainability Indicators Project with the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments. The project involves counties, municipalities and other stakeholders in tracking long-term trends for select quality of life measures. Another partnership with the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs is helping both organizations integrate sustainability concepts into their development and operations.

On the national level, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency named Fort Carson one of the Top 10 Federal Green Power Partners in 2006. "Our relationship with Western made that distinction possible," said Alguire.

Plate, in turn, is quick to credit the Renewable Resources for Federal Agency team. "We had a lot of people who helped in the purchase and process," she said.

She also admits to being excited about receiving Fort Carson's Excellence in Renewable Resources award because, "This is what I do—customer service. But the biggest honor is being a part of Fort Carson's success," she added.