Marines plan first net zero energy military base

The Marine Corps plans to make its logistics base in Albany, Ga., the nation’s first net zero energy military base.

The project will reduce energy use, increase energy security, and meet energy demands from renewable sources. The project will include a ground source heat pump system, an 8.5-megawatt biomass-fueled, steam-to-electricity (STE) generator, high-efficiency transformers, lighting and boiler upgrades, system controls for a landfill gas electricity generator, and centralized monitoring and operation of electricity generation and distribution.

Base officials estimate efficiency measures will reduce total annual electrical consumption by 15% (7,200 megawatt-hours) annually. The base will achieve net zero status as annual energy demand will be fully met by renewable energy produced on site.

The base is comprised of 3,600 acres, nearly 400 facilities, and Marine Corps-owned and operated utility systems. Achieving net zero will be possible with the availability of renewable energy steam supply that the base will buy from a 50-megawatt biomass plant located at Procter & Gamble’s neighboring facility.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.