CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
Team Charleston is in a contract to have a building turned into a patch of grass by May in an effort to conserve energy and save money.
The centralized steam plant that was Building 431 on Sloan Avenue was in operation from 1952 until it was shut down in March 2006. The demolition began in December 2007 and the six-month project is scheduled to be completed by May.
"It's being torn down because we are now using the geothermal wells for heating and cooling," said Lt. Col. Scott Walter, 437th Medical Group Bioenvironmental Engineering Flight commander. "It represents an era where heating oil was used to create steam which was distributed throughout the base in large steam lines."
The Air Mobility Command-funded demolition is a $500,000 operation. However, this is lower than the original cost since Charleston agreed to recycle parts from the building, like steel.
The steam plant had operating inefficiencies, high energy consumption and old technology that have been replaced by state-of-the-art, energy-efficient equipment. Through an energy-saving performance contract with a local business, Team Charleston was able to have $27M worth of equipment and labor to install the new way of receiving heating and cooling energy.
While it was in use, the steam plant had been providing steam heat to 88 industrial buildings on base through above-ground steam distribution lines by burning coal, No. 6 fuel oil or natural gas throughout the decades of its existence.
By eliminating the use of the plant, the environment will be saved from the burning of fossil fuels, contamination from asbestos, carbon dioxide emissions and lead-based paint hazards. Along with helping the environment, it will also save Team Charleston money from the reduced usage of water, energy and costs for maintenance and repairs.
Starting September 2005 and finishing in November 2007, buildings that were supplied by the steam plant were converted to conventional heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems, gas-fired boilers and underground geothermal wells and heat pumps. These wells are located by the water tower near the base library, the parking lot between Buildings 503 and 500, in a grass field by Buildings 219 and 221, and in the wooded area by Building 254.
With this new system and the 19-year service contract to save energy, Charleston AFB is guaranteed to save at least $2M dollars a year during the 19-year service period.
"It's good that we're doing this because that plant was a large part of the base's energy consumption," said Jeff Morgan, 437th Civil Engineer Squadron base energy manager. "And now that it's gone, it will help save energy and the environment, and tearing it down will make room for future growth or green space."