Comprehensive Sustainability Services

Over the past 30 years, RS&H has supported continuous, data-driven sustainability performance improvement for the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA), which operates a worldwide network of over 280 commissaries and central distribution centers. Since 1995, RS&H has documented over $400M in avoided energy and water costs and progress towards ambitious federal energy and water reduction goals associated with its support of DeCA’s sustainability performance.  

The cornerstone of RS&H’s comprehensive sustainability services is an informational data portal known as “ELMS.” ELMS allows DeCA to take a data-driven approach to identifying strategies to reduce its energy and water consumption and cost, increase recycling rates and revenue, reduce waste generation and associated collection costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy and materials, and increase reimbursement for product damages and discrepancies. RS&H routinely adapts ELMS to meet changing needs based on DeCA requirements, industry standards, and federal regulations. 

Some of the sustainability-focused strategies implemented by RS&H across DeCA locations include: 

• Facility Energy Audits and Condition Assessments: RS&H has performed hundreds of energy, water, environmental, and maintenance audits/assessments and collects data necessary to evaluate energy conservation measures (ECMs). ECMs are later evaluated for energy savings and capital costs using a life cycle cost benefit analysis.  In two years, RS&H conducted 94 energy assessments.  These assessments identified ECMs representing annual savings of over 132,000 MBTU and $4.2 million with an estimated simple payback of less than 5 years 
• Waste Studies: RS&H developed an Effective Waste Management Program (EWMP) that reduces the amount of waste sent to landfills. DeCA’s EWMP generated an $18 million benefit (i.e., $16 million in recycling revenue and $2 million in solid waste cost avoidance) over a four-year period; a net return on investment of 15 to 1.  By increasing their current recycling rates for cardboard and plastic film, and implementing diversion methods for organic material, DeCA will divert greater than 90% of their waste from the landfill, qualifying them as a net zero waste Agency.
• Energy Studies: RS&H integrated new monitoring and control technology with DeCA’s existing control system to fully automate various equipment types and systems. This allowed for continuous monitoring and recommissioning of mission-critical systems with minimal downtime and repair interruptions with the goal of maximizing facility resiliency and energy conservation. 
• Environmental Management System: RS&H facilitated the development and implementation of DeCA’s ISO 14001 certified Environmental Management System.  From environmental policy to management plan development, RS&H assisted in defining goals, metrics, and action plans for nine significant environmental aspects including water conservation.  As a result of water conservation efforts, DeCA conserved over 56 million gallons of water and realized $226,800 in cost avoidance.

For 30 years, RS&H has assisted DeCA in assessing and documenting energy and water consumption, recycling and waste rates and costs, and greenhouse gas emissions. Through continual data collection and analysis, RS&H has developed sustainability measures that not only enhance DeCA’s environmental stewardship efforts but reduce energy and maintenance costs across DeCA locations.