Defense Logistics Agency Energy partners with Army Reserve for increased energy sustainability and security

FORT BELVOIR, Va., Jan. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Defense Logistics Agency Energy, in partnership with the Army Reserve's 99th Regional Support Command, recently awarded an energy savings performance contract that will generate more than $2 million in guaranteed energy and water savings per year for the 99th RSC.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130918/MM82677LOGO)

"This project has all the elements of energy sustainability, including energy reduction, renewables and net zero capacity," said DLA Energy Installation Energy Director Pam Griffith. "The president has a clear mandate for implementation of federal government energy conservation measures and this project with the 99th RSC supports that mandate."

The president announced, in a White House memorandum released Dec. 2, 2011, that the federal government has a responsibility to lead by example, reduce the federal government's energy use, and operate federal buildings efficiently.

The memorandum specifically calls for the use of performance-based contracts as one of the vehicles to implement energy conservation measures in federal buildings. Agencies were encouraged to enter into installation-wide and portfolio-wide performance contracts and undertake comprehensive projects that include short-term and long-term energy conservation measures in order to maximize efficiency and return on investment to the American taxpayer.

The project is designed to improve energy sustainability and security at 90 reserve centers located in 11 states in the northeast and will achieve 80 percent of the 99th RSC's requirements of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which establishes energy management goals for military installations. The 99th RSC will also exceed the requirements of Executive Order 13514 for water savings and the renewable energy target established by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The winning contractor conducted an audit in order to define the scope of work, the energy conservation measures to be achieved, the energy savings to be guaranteed and the services that will be conducted to ensure the achievement of the energy savings, said Cindy Obermeyer, DLA Energy contracting officer for the project.

The findings show that the project will allow the 99th RSC to reduce its energy consumption by about 24 percent and will also reduce water/sewer energy consumption by more than 50 percent.

"This project provides for the generation of 2,667 million British thermal units of renewable energy annually and brings two sites to a net zero capacity, which means those sites will actually generate all the energy they will need to operate their facilities," Obermeyer said.

The two sites that will realize a net zero capacity are the Col. Lewis J. Storck U.S. Army Reserve Center in Northfield, N. J., and York Memorial U.S. Army Reserve Center in York, Penn.

Obermeyer broke things down to everyday terms of energy savings.

"The electricity savings achieved by this project is equivalent to the amount of electricity used to power 927 homes per year," she said.

The natural gas savings are equivalent to the electricity use for 232 homes for one year.

In this particular project, the contractor was able to take things one step further and they will convert the Fort Totten, N.Y., site from costly fuel oil to natural gas. This effort greatly reduces the use of fossil fuels and lowers the utility costs as the natural gas costs are far less than the fuel oil, Obermeyer said. 

Griffith said the contracting team, the contractor and the 99th RSC did an amazing job getting this project across the finish line.

"It took a little more than one year to go from the audit to the day the contract was awarded; that is quite an accomplishment considering all the work that had to be done and the events that have taken place that were beyond our control," she said. 

In order to secure the best financial deal for the government, the contractor worked with 11 different state legislative and regulatory organizations regarding energy conservation, rebates, incentives and solar renewable energy credits.

"We lived through the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, which brought the project to a grinding halt as much of the area was affected. Then came the government shutdown and furloughs, which each affected the 99th RSC personnel directly," Griffith said.

"Everyone involved in this project was focused on the energy mission for the 99th RSC and committed to doing a great project. I couldn't be more proud of them all," she added.

DLA Energy's mission is to provide the DoD and other government agencies with comprehensive energy solutions in the most effective and efficient manner possible. 

The 99th RSC, located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., is responsible for administrative, logistics and facilities support to more than 51,000 Army Reserve soldiers in 454 units at 332 reserve-component facilities and 33 maintenance facilities in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia.

As a Department of Defense combat support agency, DLA provides the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other federal agencies, and joint and allied forces with a variety of logistics, acquisition and technical services. The agency sources and provides nearly 100 percent of the consumable items America's military forces need to operate, from food, fuel and energy, to uniforms, medical supplies, and construction and barrier equipment. DLA also supplies more than 85 percent of the military's spare parts.

Headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va., DLA has about 26,000 employees worldwide and supports more than 2,300 weapon systems. For more information about DLA, go to www.dla.mil, www.facebook.com/dla.mil or http://twitter.com/dlamil.

SOURCE Defense Logistics Agency