CLDJ expansion reveals energy efficiencies

Photo By Eric Dietrich | An U.S. airman walks towards a housing area composed of containerized living units at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, March 27, 2014. The triple stacked CLUs showed a three to five percent reduction in necessary power to cool the first and second levels simply by being shaded. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Eric Dietrich/Released)  

CAMP LEMONNIER, DJIBOUTI

04.22.2014

Story by Lt. Michael Sheehan 

Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti

CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti - Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, a U.S. Navy-managed forward operating site, reduced its energy consumption in surprising ways as the camp evolves from an expeditionary to an enduring base.

Upgrading CLDJ infrastructure and equipment resulted in a 9 percent reduction from fiscal year 2012 to 2013, resulting in a $2 million cost savings.

Roughly 20 diesel generators provide power for the entire camp. As CLDJ continues to evolve from an expeditionary forward operating location into an enduring base, 12 generators that were being utilized to provide necessary power have been phased out in favor of newer models. The impact on the fuel consumption by the generators was immediate, with the newer generators being 10 percent more efficient than the models they replaced.

CLDJ Public Works Installation Energy Manager Tim Stufft explained that the 12 newer generators are actually efficient enough that they can power the camp on their own nine months out of the year.

“70 to 80 percent of our electrical load is for running air conditioning in the living and working spaces” Stufft said. “We found efficiencies with the new generators, and also through better planning and organization.”

CLDJ Public Works tied its two existing power plants into a single grid, eliminating wasteful redundancies. Seventy-two tactical generators were also eliminated, with their power loads being shifted to the more efficient generators. Intense heat during the summer requires CLDJ to use all of its generators, but the effects of the sun also led indirectly to another area of efficiency.

Physical constraints to CLDJ’s acreage requires current expansion to its primary berthing quarters, containerized living units, to go up rather than out. CLUs are now stacked three high in some areas of camp, resulting in the first and second level being shaded by the top tier. Putting the CLUs in shade helped reduce the energy required to cool them by three to five percent.

“We saw a benefit right away on the first and second level of the triple-stack CLUs,” said Stufft.

CLDJ Public Works is now exploring ways to shade all the CLUs, initiating a project to test solar shades designs and installation on its uncovered CLUs and looking for energy efficiencies wherever it can.

For more news from Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, visit www.navy.mil/local/CAMPL/.

• Date Taken: 04.22.2014
• Date Posted: 04.22.2014 01:27
• Story ID: 126982
• Location: CAMP LEMONNIER, DJ