Footprints in the Pacific
Environmental September 1st, 2009
By Chuck Strand, Johnson Controls
A thousand miles east of the Philippines and 7,500 miles west of California, smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, lies the tiny island of Guam. Captured by the Japanese on December 8th, 1941 – the day after they attacked Pearl Harbor – Guam was eventually recaptured by U.S. forces and became an important launch pad for the air and naval assaults on Japan that eventually ended World War II. In 1950, the island became an American territory and its inhabitants U.S. citizens.
Viewed from the air, Guam looks just like a footprint – a really big footprint, some 30 miles long and 12 miles across at its widest point. But it’s that other footprint – the environmental one – that comes to my mind when I think of the island these days.
The U.S. military is still a giant presence on Guam. Seven military installations cover nearly 30 percent of the island and require, according to the Department of Defense, a staggering 41.5 megawatts of continuous power every month. That’s enough electricity to power about 25,000 homes.
Among the U.S. military bases on the island is Naval Base Guam – a critical component in the nation’s military might in the Western Pacific. And it’s where Johnson Controls will soon help the Navy pursue its ambitious goal of producing 25 percent of the energy it needs using renewable power sources.
We recently signed a $34.1 million energy savings performance contract with the Navy to help make Naval Base Guam more energy efficient and reduce the base’s overall environmental impact. Among the work we will perform:
- Installing a large-scale solar photovoltaic system that will provide about 3 percent of the base’s power needs
- Installing energy efficient air conditioning systems – very important in a place where the daily temperature averages 86 degrees year round!
- Upgrading the efficiency of more than 9,000 lighting fixtures
- Installing our Metasys® building management system to serve 49 of the buildings on the base
The climate on Guam is officially described as "tropical marine," which is weather-speak for "really hot and muggy all the time." So the equipment we’re installing is designed to handle tropical humidity and saltwater. And, get this, it will also withstand typhoon winds in excess of 170 mph. That’s important because an average of three tropical storms and one typhoon come within about 200 miles of the island every year.
These energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements are expected to save the base $1.7 million a year – savings on utility expenses that will be redirected to repay the capital expenditure required to fund the upgrades. They will help the Navy make good on its pledge to dramatically increase its use of renewable energy. And they will help reduce the base’s carbon and other emissions – shrinking that other footprint.
On an island outpost halfway around the world, in a place that must feel like the edge of the planet, thousands of American men and women stand on that wall and defend each of us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. At Johnson Controls, we’re pleased and proud to play a role in making their service and sacrifice a little more comfortable – and a lot more efficient and sustainable.
Efficiency Now. It’s never been more important.
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