Military Installations
Johnson Controls helps U.S. military installations function effectively to support their mission while maximizing sustainability
The mission of military installations is to support the troops protecting America’s people and national interests at home and abroad. These military installations and the buildings within them must operate securely and effectively – whether their function is to house military personnel and their families, train soldiers and pilots, or re-supply troops in combat zones.
Such installations must be able to meet these critical needs:
- Military sustainability goals
Under the Energy Policy Act of 2007, and ensuing Presidential Executive Orders, military installations must reach specific energy and greenhouse gas reduction targets. - Energy security
Military bases must operate without interruption. To do so, they need continuous power availability – independent of the grid if need be. - Mission support
Every activity at a military installation supports troops. The more effectively those activities are carried out, the better the support they provide. For example, the capability to reduce energy consumption and generate electricity from renewable resources on-site at a forward base eliminates the need to truck in fossil fuels and puts fewer personnel in harm’s way.
In addition, enhancing the safety and comfort of military families living at a base back in the United States means less worry and distraction for troops in the field.
Sustainability solutions that deliver results
The Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland needed to reduce energy consumption by 30 percent by 2015 to comply with Executive Order 13423. To achieve this goal, Aberdeen Proving Ground partnered with Johnson Controls to modernize and upgrade more than 2,000 buildings. Through the implementation of energy efficiency improvements, it is projected to save $134 million in energy costs by 2030.
What’s more, at the U.S. Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command in California, outdoor temperatures range from 120 degrees in summer to below freezing in winter. Energy efficiency and climate control improvements have turned a once-uncomfortable place to work and live into a site where instructors and trainees actually want to be assigned. The base now has a cogeneration plant which saves nearly $7 million a year in energy costs while ensuring continuous electrical power, where it had once been impacted by power outages.
Johnson Controls products and services – including alternative energy solutions — help bases domestically and around the world conserve energy and water, reduce operating costs, and lessen dependence on fossil fuels, particularly from foreign sources.
Advanced building management systems, such as Metasys®, control and integrate key mechanical and electrical building systems to optimize comfort and safety, while reducing energy consumption. That, in turn, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and saves money while providing a more livable environment for military and civilian personnel and their families.
Energy conservation and self-sufficiency can be achieved on an installation-wide basis or with subgroups of buildings and facilities, powered by a micro-grid. That’s another way to reduce energy usage and costs while maintaining operations should a natural disaster or an attack interrupt the base’s power supply from the main grid.
Making military buildings work on a limited budget
The challenge is to finance improvement projects and remain within the Department of Defense budget. Fortunately, finance vehicles such as performance contracting enable the military to work with an energy services company (ESCO) such as Johnson Controls so that the costs of energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy projects are offset by the energy savings they produce.
Learn more
To learn more about how military installations are operating more securely and effectively while saving energy and money, read our case studies. To find out how we can help your buildings work more efficiently, contact us, or try our operational and energy savings calculator today.
