Resource Efficiency in the US Army Corps of Engineers: Examination of Strategies to Reduce Energy Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

摘要

As with other Federal agencies, the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is attempting to plan a long-term strategy to increase the efficiency of operations through a series of investments and operational changes that reduce energy and water use and green house gas (GHG) emissions. These investments and changes are driven by a number of legislative and executive requirements that, since 2010, are addressed in annual sustainability plans, as required in Executive Order 13514 (2009). Besides meeting required goals, USACE al-so hopes to reduce operational costs through these investments and operational changes, and different investment approaches have sig-nificantly different impacts in terms of lifetime energy and operational cost savings. This study examines the various investment path-ways, over multiple years that can be considered to achieve greater efficiencies. The efficiency value gained by different investments varies widely. The study also examines the ability of USACE to achieve different goals in their various timelines, and attempts to iden-tify the investments levels that might be required, year by year, to achieve these goals. This study also compares, given limited re-sources, the relative benefits to USACE operational budgets, over the lifetime of these investments and operational changes, for various approaches.