PNNL

Abstract

The U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) prioritized achieving net zero as part of its Sustainability Program in 2013, and developed a pilot that investigated net zero energy, water, and waste at 10 sites. Pilot sites were selected based on mission requirements for energy and water resilience and the likelihood of achieving the technical and economic thresholds for net zero. USAR owns and operates hundreds of sites that typically consist of between 2 and 10 buildings. The pilot sites were intentionally dispersed across the U.S. and its territories to provide a range of geographic characteristics where the net zero potential could be analyzed and solutions could be developed. For the Army, changes to operations must support the mission and enhance readiness, which includes increasing efficiency and resiliency. To facilitate alignment of project prioritization with different goals and site-specific needs, a net zero roadmap outlined three scenarios for project implementation: (1) cost-effective measures, (2) net zero measures, and (3) recommended measures. Each scenario included the same measures for some sites, while others had three different outcomes. USAR has used these roadmaps to plan and execute projects and move toward net zero at multiple sites since 2014, with the primary focus on the cost-effective and recommended scenarios. As conditions and costs change, additional measures required to achieve net zero are considered. This paper describes the methodology deployed for analyzing net zero for the USAR and discusses the benefits of working toward net zero under three distinct scenarios.