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Twenty Years of Geothermal at Fort Knox Adapted from Information by Captain Jo Smoke Fort Knox Public Affairs The Fort Knox slogan declares, “Strength starts here.” Fort Knox can claim the Army’s energy conservation starts here too. Director of Public Works Pat Walsh recalled the early days of energy initiatives, when refuse-fired incinerators were used on Fort Knox in an attempt to convert waste to energy. The plant eventually failed due to inadequate technology and poor timing, so Walsh and his energy team decided to look to the skies for a solution. It soon became evident windmills were also not going to work as a reliable, long-term answer either. The team decided to look to the sun. Though the post cultivates enough solar energy to supplement electricity needs, the Kentucky sun proved too unpredictable to be a primary energy resource. Officials finally turned away from the skies and focused on the earth below. After briefly considering using farmers’ feed stock and cattle waste for energy, the team struck a gold mine in 1996. “We have great dirt and rocks in Kentucky,” said R.J. Dyrdek, energy manager. Using geothermal for heating and cooling became an obvious choice. The installa- tion crew quickly took advantage of the energy resource by removing outdated heating, ventilating, and air conditioning sys- tems, and installing geothermal technology. Now, 20 years later, Fort Knox relies on geothermal heating and cooling for 6 million square feet of space spanning 109,000 acres. At least 250 facilities are con- nected to geothermal ground-coupled heat pump systems, containing hundreds of 500-foot-deep wells, and almost 600 miles of underground piping. Since antiquated hot water boiler sys- tems have been replaced with geothermal technology, Fort Knox tenants are benefit- ting from better ventilation, improved in- door air quality, and reduced mold exposure. Fort Knox has also achieved 57% improved efficiency compared to conventional elec- tricity. In 2012, Fort Knox expanded its geother- mal technology yet again after receiving an Army energy conservation improvement project grant to build a $1.2 million geo- thermal pond solely designated to heat and cool the post’s largest facility, which houses the Army’s Human Resources Command. By applying a holistic approach to energy conservation, Fort Knox plans to continuously exceed reduction goals set by federal reg- ulations. “There is always more we can do as technologies change; and technology change is occurring ever more frequently,” said Walsh. Drilling at Fort Knox cadet barracks to install geothermal heat pumps. &% ! "" * "(%$ ))) (" $( ' & $ %# # " (" $( $ ( " !" !! ! &% ! % ! (" $( & $ $ $ " ! $ $ ! ! $ ! $ # $ $ $ 62 MAY 2016 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®