Photo By William Farrow | A contractor serving as a resource efficiency manager (REM) under the U.S. Army...... read more read more
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. –Maintaining and documenting numbers for Army Reserve’s growing network of automated, data-driven facilities is a daunting mission.
A contractor serving as a resource efficiency manager (REM) under the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville’s Energy Division is turning that mission into reality.
Alexandra Pitts, a Lindahl Reed, Inc. contractor working under the management of the Center’s REM Program, is the technical link powering the Reserve’s unified energy control system.
Energy data collection and facility automation are becoming essential to military readiness, and the Army Reserve’s digital modernization efforts are bringing thousands of facilities together under one secure, unified system.
With over 200 thousand Soldiers and Civilian employees operating within more than 40 million square feet of building space spread across the nation, the Army Reserve is a major energy consumer. Accessing energy is essential for the Reserve’s resilience, and Pitts plays a major role in ensuring the Reserve’s energy resilience.
Prior to entering the federal facilities sector, Pitts worked with a residential heating and air conditioning company, where she gained early exposure to HVAC systems, field operations, and the importance of efficiency and proper system performance.
That experience helped build a practical foundation that later supported her transition into the commercial and federal facilities environment.
In 2011 Pitts began working with Johnson Controls Federal Systems as part of the integration team embedded into the Directorate of Public Works at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. She worked closely with project teams and government personnel to help organize workflows, documentation, and coordination for building integration projects as they were brought online. As the program expanded, Pitts’ role evolved into a project coordination position supporting building automation and integration projects across multiple facilities.
Following a reduction in force at Johnson Controls in 2018, Pitts took the opportunity to formalize and expand my technical background. Within weeks, she began the process of returning to school (her academic background was originally in speech pathology) and was accepted into Bismarck State College’s National Energy Center of Excellence within the Energy Management program.
She enrolled in early 2019 and focused on coursework related to energy efficiency, building systems, utilities and facility optimization and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in energy management, in 2020. Melissa Johnson, REM program manager said Pitts’ position is unique to the REM program.
“She doesn't have the normal REM focus, nor does she cover one garrison or even a region; she is the REM for all of Army Reserve locations,” Johnson said.
Johnson said Pitts’ experience and knowledge with controls systems and troubleshooting issues is valuable USAR installations to have properly running systems, which allows them to have accurate system controls and reporting building information.
“She is the Army Reserve go-to person, central point to all USAR, to assist within Enterprise Building Control System (EBCS), Facility Related Control Systems (FRCS) and the Reserve Army Metering Program,” Johnson said.
“She came onboard with Huntsville Center in 2024 and is exactly what we are looking for in the REM program.”
Pitts currently supports the Army Reserve’s EBCS program by helping simplify and improve how facilities manage their energy use across widely scattered locations.
Her role involves coordinating and implementing JACE software updates, module installations, ensuring the devices are functional, compliant, and reporting properly within the EBCS platform to support secure remote monitoring and enhanced operational visibility.
Coordinating software updates, installing new system components, and making sure the equipment in each building operates correctly, meets program standards, and sends accurate information into the EBCS platform, her work ensures secure remote monitoring and gives Army Reserve leadership clearer insight into how their facilities are performing.
“I serve as a technical liaison between USARC Headquarters and the Readiness Division REMs, helping ensure consistent EBCS implementation across all divisions,” Pitts said.
As part of her fieldwork, Pitts often conducts site visits to Army Reserve centers across multiple Readiness Divisions depending on project needs or field-level troubleshooting requests related to the JACEs.
Travel is a regular part of Pitts’ role as an REM. Under normal circumstances, Pitts said site visits are typically planned every couple of months as needed, depending on system conditions, project activity, and facility support requirements.
“Army Reserve Centers are located across a wide geographic footprint, and some sites are located in more remote or out-of-the-way locations,” Pitts said.
“While my travel to date has been within the continental United States, the dispersed nature of Reserve facilities requires coordination across regions and locations.”
These visits involve general facility walkthroughs to assess the presence, status, and connectivity of JACE devices and utility meters, including water, gas, and electric, within the EBCS framework.
Pitts said coordinating travel to Reserve Centers isn’t nearly as difficult as the coordination required managing the complexity that comes with supporting buildings when there are many moving parts involved.
She said working with multiple stakeholders, including different contractors, technical teams, and local site personnel, is often quite complex.
“These groups often operate with different processes, timelines, and levels of system familiarity,” she said. “Ensuring everyone is aligned and informed before work is performed is critical, since even well-intended changes can unintentionally impact other efforts if communication is not properly coordinated.”
Pitts said maintaining clear points of contact, understanding site-specific conditions, and ensuring that work is properly sequenced helps prevent duplication or conflicting changes.
Bridging those gaps, Pitts said, keeps efforts aligned across locations is a key challenge, but an important one. “The most gratifying aspect of the work is seeing those efforts come together successfully,” Pitts said. When Pitts is in the field, a lot of her focus is on ensuring the JACE is properly installed, physically connected, and actively communicating with the building’s control system so data can be transmitted to the centralized EBCS platform.
Pitts also verifies whether meters are present and correctly wired into the system.
If meters are missing or not visibly located, she documents those findings so they can be flagged for follow-up or considered for inclusion in future integration projects.
Pitts also supports troubleshooting efforts for energy managers and HVAC teams by assisting with JACE connectivity issues, offline devices, platform/station access, and verifying proper communication between JACEs and the EBCS system.
Additionally, when requested, she reviews system trend data and meter performance. This includes tasks such as verifying pulse counts from water meters and pulling historical point data to support troubleshooting efforts and ensure accurate reporting within EBCS platform.
Since Joining Lindahl Reed and becoming part of the REM program, she earned her Certified Energy Manager (CEM) credential and completed both the Niagara N4 and Reflow certifications—tools essential to the EBCS platform.
“These certifications have strengthened my ability to support system-level operations and ensure accurate, real-time data visualization through customized graphical interfaces,” Pitts said.
For Pitts, job satisfaction comes from assisting technicians, helping troubleshoot issues, or providing clarity around how systems are designed to function.
“Seeing a project reach completion and knowing it was implemented correctly and adds real operational value is what makes the work meaningful to me,” she said.
| Date Taken: | 01.08.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2026 15:56 |
| Story ID: | 555886 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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