Environmental Sustainability at Military Installations – The Realm of Possibility

1. Environmental Sustainability at Military Installations – The Realm of Possibility

2. Overview • How we advance • What can change • The realm of possibility

3. How We Advance • We dream • We create • We adapt

4. We Dream We have had visionaries who see the future, take Jules Verne for example. His 1863 book “The Earth to the Moon”, predicted: • The shape and size of the Apollo command module • The number of crew (3) • Launch from Florida near KSC • A competition between TX and FL to be the launch center • Weightlessness in space • Splashdown in the Pacific

5. We Create When inspired, we are an industrious species – we create by: • Inventing new technologies and approaches • Using models from nature • Refining our own models and systems

6. We Adapt As important, if not more important, is our ability to recognize the benefits of inventions and understand how they will make our life and world better.

7. What Can Change • Technologies • Procedures (like purchasing, contracting, design) • Approaches (like reduction, reuse, recycling, treatment, and disposal) • Habits (resource use, transportation patterns, product selection)

8. The Trick is Knowing Which environmental impacts is it possible to prevent or decrease cost-effectively? How to accomplish the end-state? When is a technology ready?

9. The Realm of Possibility • Energy Conservation • Renewable Energy • Water Supply and Use • Stormwater Protection • Transportation • Material Use

10. The Realm of Possibility –Energy ConservationWhat if….we built “green” buildings?

11. Rocky Mountain Institute Grow bananas with no furnace at -40°F • Super insulated • Solar heated • Passively cooled • Heat exchangers • Daylit • Water efficiency • Efficient lighting, equipment • PV arrays Savings: • 90% electrical • 99% space/water heating • 10 month payback • Power bill $5/month • Market-average cost when built in 1984

12. Currently available technologies can: • Make old buildings 3X to 4X more efficient • New buildings 10X more efficient State-of-the-shelf

14. The Power of Conservation If every person in California would retire one light – there would be no energy crisis in California Even the most minor changes can result in huge reductions in energy consumption and emission of air pollutants

15. The Realm of Possibility –Renewable Energy “Pond Scum may be a synonym for primitive, but the tiny organisms that compose it easily beat the human state of the art to capturing energy from the sun. Some purple bacteria…use (solar) light with almost 95% efficiency – more than four times that of our best man-made solar cells…” USC new release 22 AUG 94

16. Fort Lewis Buys Green Power Three percent of the power purchased by Fort Lewis comes from renewable sources like wind…

17. This unit examined a photovoltaic power station in a field and simulated field environment. The bottom line is this system with some modifications can be used to provide the primary power source for a Battalion sized Airborne Infantry Tactical Operation Center. From Analysis of Deployable Applications of PV in Theater (ADAPT): Steve Siegel, Dec 00

18. New Fuels Scott Air Force Base is scheduled to use bio-based diesel fuel blends in 270 vehicles. Bio-based diesel fuel is: • Composed of soy and other oils and can be blended with petroleum diesel. • Reduces carcinogenic releases by 75-90%. • Requires no vehicle modifications. • Is bio-degradable and sulfur free.

19. The Realm of Possibility – Water Supply and Use “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting for…” Our ancestors understood the importance of water. Maybe, we need to rethink our use of water as well.

20. Implement Efficient End-use Technologies and Practices

21. Wastewater Technology is available to cascade water from higher to lower quality needs Greywater.com

22. Seven Principles of Xeriscaping • Water conserving design • Low water use/drought tolerant plants • Reduction in turf • Water harvesting techniques • Appropriate irrigation method • Use of mulches • Proper maintenance practices

23. How would you design a sewage plant if you had to live downwind? Living Machines™ turn sewage into clean water and flowers. Dr. John Todd

24. Realm of Possibility – Stormwater Protection What if…we took advantage of natural systems to keep storm water clean?

25. Maybe we’d have less Fishkills Polluted runoff Sewer overflows Inconsistent flow Courtesy of STUDIO for Creative Inquiry

26. Fort Lewis Reduces Erosion Hardened river crossings reduce impact on the surface water and stream banks

27. Swales, infiltration basins, vegetated filter strips Village Homes, Davis CaliforniaLeveraging natural storm water management Savings: $800/lot plus more green space, crop sales, coolth, quality of life, market value.

28. Porous Paving / Infiltration IslandsBerlin, Leipzig

29. Ford Dearborne Plant Is investing an additional $8M in a green roof, porous pavement for parking lot (reduced cost), and a constructed wetland for landscaping. Savings will include elimination of a $40M stormwater management system and $6M budgeted for landscaping.

30. Stream Day Lighting • Courtesy of DeKalb County, GA Parks Dept. • Courtesy of Zürich Sewerage Dept.

31. The Realm of Possibility - Transportation What if…we had less-polluting vehicles?

32. Hybrid Vehicles Gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles get double the gas mileage and reduce air emissions by 40% - on sale now at dealers in Japan, Europe, and America

33. Alternative-fueled Vehicles • Natural gas, propane, electric, hybrid gas-electric • GSA provides some AFVs • Major automakers predict mass production of fuel-cell powered cars by 2005 • Fuel cells turn hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and hot water - no harmful emissions and 50% more efficient than traditional power production

34. The Hypercar • Concept design put in public domain by Rocky Mountain Institute in early 90s • 70-80% fuel savings - and reduced air emissions • Conventional fuel or fuel cells • Major automakers have spent roughly $5B to develop prototypes • The race is on! Photo courtesy of The Hypercar Center/ Rocky Mountain Institute

35. Working with the Region Fort Lewis has joined with its regional partners to work for cleaner air…

36. The Realm of Possibility –Material Use What if….we used less of the world’s material resources?

37. Life Cycle of a Can of Coke Warning, the following life cycle is disturbing. If you are bothered by senselessly wasteful behavior, you may want to avert your eyes, cover your ears, and think about something else.

38. Step 6 - metal ingot cured and shipped to Germany to be rolled Step 1 - bauxite is mined in Australia Step 11 - can is lacquered and coated inside Step 7 - ingot is heated to 900F and rolled into coil Step 2 - bauxite is trucked to plant for chemical processing 1 ton ore yields 1/2 of Aluminum Oxide Step 12 - cans are palletized, stored, and shipped Step 8 - coil is stored and cold rolled into sheet Step 14 - bottler cleans and fills with product Step 3 - shipped to Norway for processing Step 9 - sheet metal is shipped to England punched and formed into cans Step 15 - cans are packed in promotional boxes palletized and shipped to retailer Step 4 - oxide sits at smelter site for up to 2 months Step 10 - can is washed, dried, primed and painted Step 5 - 2-hour smelting reduces 1/2 of oxide into 1/4 ton of metal Step 16 - Can is purchased, contents consumed within a few minutes and is thrown away

39. Product Leasing • Interface Carpet • Automobiles • Furniture • Red rags • Paper?

40. Fort Chaffee Building Deconstruction • Partnership between Army and Habitat for Humanity • Negotiated with Fort Chaffee Local Redevelopment Authority • Over 600 large buildings (2 story WWII barracks) • Large amount of salvageable siding, windows, doors • Over 10 million board feet of old-growth yellow pine • Value $20-40M

41. Aggressive Waste Contracts Rutgers Camden Campus recycles 20+ items through its contracted waste services. Accomplished by: • Writing gradually more comprehensive contracts • Obtaining input from service providers • Off-setting costs (recycling makes a profit!)

42. Can the Government Push the Development of New Technology? • Obviously yes - we do it all the time in • system development: • Global Position Satellite Systems • Fuel cells • Solar and wind technologies • Battery technologies

43. Harnessing Market Forces Our success will rest, in part, in our ability to harness the desire of companies to do business with us. Further, we need to articulate our needs to industry, evaluate what they suggest, and determine when technologies are ready for our use and can be provided in sufficient volume to meet our needs.

44. What does Sustainability Cost? The question should be – what does non-sustainability really cost? How much more advanced could we be if we used improved technologies?

45. Obligatory Quote “The face of the Earth is a graveyard – and so it has always been…each living thing restores when it dies that which has been borrowed to give form and substance to its brief day in the sun. What is lent by the Earth has been used by countless generations of plants and animals long dead and will be required by countless future generations in the future…” Paul B. Sears, naturalist

46. Obligatory Guilt How long will humankind’s legacy of environmental damage or stewardship last… How long will it take for our planet, our home to heal what we do to it… How long will we be here to see and enjoy our home…

47. Leaving with a Challenge The time is now to: • Use what we know and take advantage of innovations • Help the government, the world’s largest purchaser, drive change • Look for opportunities to encourage new innovations • Take responsibility for what we do personally and professionally to make our society sustainable