As part of wider plans to boost green construction, Balfour Beatty and Engie have equipped the Fort Eustace and Fort Story military bases in Virginia with several energy-saving measures covering more than 1,000 homes.
Fort Story, Virginia. Image credit: Sherry V Smith / Shutterstock
Fort Story, in Virginia's Chesapeake Bay, is one of two military bases that has undergone energy modernisation by both Balfour Beatty and ENGIE. Image credit: Sherry V Smith / Shutterstock
The retrofits, which cost an estimated $12 million, should allow for cost-saving and improved quality of life for military families living nearby - further proving green construction can be aided by refurbishments rather than having to construct new buildings from scratch.
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The project was undertaken by subsidiaries of the two firms: Balfour Beatty Communities and ENGIE Services US, itself an arm of the French provider's North American branch.
Despite being entirely funded through private capital, the projects falls under the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, a bill passed through Congress back in 1996 to help the US military improve the quality of its housing. It was signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton.
It looks to tackle two primary issues with homes assigned to military personnel. The first is to address the poor-quality housing owned by the Department of Defense, and the second is to address the relative shortage of affordable private housing.
The changes have increased energy efficiency in the buildings while "streamlining maintenance services" which could save military families a lot of money in energy costs.
The changes include 77,000 upgrades to more efficient lighting systems; the implementation of 475 efficient heat pumps; the installation of 995 "smart home" thermostats, which can often be expensive; 1,500 humidistats for bathrooms, which can measure and control humidity in a room; water conservation equipment such as aerated faucets, newer shower heads and low-flow toilets; and weatherproofing for more than 900 homes.
Low-flow toilets have been designed to use far less water and aerated faucets are designed to control the flow of water, which supposedly leads to less waste and causes less splashing.
“We are proud to have completed this project, which improves critical systems in the homes of military families at Fort Eustis and Fort Story", Balfour Beatty Communities executive vice president Mark Lavin said in a statement.
“Our work with Engie is making these military housing communities more resilient and is generating utility savings that will be used to further improve these homes as part of our long-term reinvestment effort", he added.
Balfour claims the new HVAC systems "reduce the carbon footprint of [its] housing installations", while also making them more comfortable to live in. Standardisation of systems can also reduce disruptions or outages.
In total, the retrofits could reduce residential consumption by approximately 3,286,588 kWh/year in electricity, 857 CCF (2426 cubic feet)/year in natural gas, and 21,284,200 gallons/year in water, it added.
“This project helps enhance the living conditions of our military families while supporting President Biden’s executive order to tackle the climate crisis at home and abroad", ENGIE's Vice President of Business Development Brad Boerger said.
He suggested these changes could also the US military reduce its environmental impacts on the US through its housing schemes.
The DoD has set itself an interim goal of providing 100% of the energy load - the total energy in each individual system - required by each U.S. military installation by 2030 while also reducing emissions by 50%. This should be handled through various sustainability initiatives.
While it is currently unknown what percentage of its climate impact is through housing, the US Military is among the largest emitters in the world.
Through its various campaigns, primary in both the aerospace and defence sectors, the US military reportedly emits more CO2 into the atmosphere than entire countries like Portugal, Denmark, or Sweden, according to one report by Inside Climate News.
A Forbes article from 2019 estimates the military emitted 59 million tonnes of CO2 in 2017 alone. If it were a nation, "the Pentagon would rank 55th" in the world's emitters, it continues.
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To this end, the US military has pledged to become net-neutral by 2050, although this has been met with a mixed response, with some considering it to be an unrealistic goal due to a lack of development in renewable energy in the US, and others considering it tantamount of greenwashing.
Regardless, if these goals are met, it will wipe a lot of the US' emissions from the map, alongside other giants such as aviation.
The two firms have formed the ESPC Initiative alongside the military in order to help it on the path to decarbonisation. It will help to address the dire need to modernisation and retrofits across the British builder's military housing portfolio.
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