Mandates for energy and water use reduction including the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2007 and two executive orders put federal facilities at the forefront of resource efficiency. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has taken the lead for the Army and established a program, the comprehensive energy and water management plans (CEWMP), to achieve compliance.

AECOM worked with Avila Government Services providing project management, planning, facilitation and technical energy and water assessment skills to USACE for 31 installations throughout the U.S. addressing over 175 million square feet of facilities and 6.5 million acres of land with 93 workshops and over 300 interviews.

Each of the 31 projects began with a week-long onsite workshop led by a field team of AECOM technical experts. They worked with key Army personnel to develop an overall vision, gather and understand pertinent utility information and assess the current baseline energy and water use and conduct a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis specific to that installation.

The technical team then evaluated current and proposed actions and developed a prioritized list of short- and long-term projects the installation should pursue to meet the required mandates within the prescribed time periods. These comprehensive energy and water masterplans (CEWMP) served as essential tools for each installation in vying for the Federal funding needed to pursue development.

The overall outcome of the CEWMP process was to give the Army a concrete understanding of the current state of their installations, to cohere each installation's approach to resource efficiency and to understand the opportunities presented at each installation in light of its unique challenges. For instance, because historical buildings at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point make photovoltaic panels difficult to deploy, waste-to-energy projects emerged as a promising alternative.

Renewable energy was a prime area of focus at all installations. Large-scale solar proved feasible at locations such as Fort Carson, Colorado. AECOM used its SSIMe modeling tool to facilitate the evaluation of renewable opportunities. In other instances such as Fort Drum, New York, addressing leakage in water infrastructure will provide the necessary boost in efficiency.

One of the major findings of the CEWMP process was that coordinated regional water and energy efficiency initiatives would have the greatest impact. Energy savings performance contracts (ESPC), like those implemented by AECOM's Energy business line, provide a potential vehicle for leveraging third-party funding for cooperative ventures. Adelphi Laboratory Center in Maryland is currently using two ESPCs to exceed energy and water mandates.

Expanding the program to put further emphasis on regional and nationwide initiatives, as well as costing the identified projects would be the logical next step. The CEWMP process drew upon the collaborative expertise of AECOM's Building Engineering, including the High-Performance Buildings group, Design + Planning and Water capabilities.

Jake Herson