Saturday, October 13, 2012

Army Energy Net Zero Program

Turning Trash Mountains Into Molehills
10/12/2012 - Army installations are small communities. They house, employ, feed, exercise, entertain and support thousands of soldiers and their families. These installations also fix cars, provide medical and veterinary treatment, mend and dry-clean clothes and sell computers.

To provide a convenient, livable plot of land for their communities, garrisons produce and eventually discard staggering amounts of waste. For reference, U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr, a large installation about 140 miles north of Munich, generated 15,000 metric tons of waste in 2011.

“Americans have more refuse than their German neighbors, per capita,” said Juergen Alex, chief of the USAG Grafenwoehr Directorate of Public Works’ Utilities Branch.

When it comes to energy, the output is similarly overgrown. In 2011, Grafenwoehr spent more than $36 million on heat, electricity, gas and sewage services inside its gates.

With both eyes on future resources, natural as well as economic, the Army recently reassessed the sustainability of its energy, water and waste usage and deemed them superfluous. So, instead of trimming services in a move that could negatively impact quality of life for soldiers and their families, the Army is taking steps toward Net Zero energy, water and waste installations.

What is Net Zero? read more>>>

Army Vision for Net Zero


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