EUGENE, Ore. -- (May 21, 2012) -- The U.S. Department of Defense announced this month that it has adopted new master plan criteria for sustainable development authored by Mark Gillem, an associate professor in the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
The publication includes planning strategies and procedures that were developed over an 18-month period and that will direct construction at the Defense Department’s 300,000 buildings worldwide, valued at roughly $600 billion. The policies also pertain to landscaping and roads at all military installations.
“It’s mind-boggling that somebody like me would be able to do this,” Gillem said. “The global impact will be significant.”
Gillem facilitated the collaborative process that led to the first revision to the DOD’s master planning Unified Facilities Criteria since 1986. Gillem and Dorothy Robyn, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, jointly announced the adoption of the new guidance at a presentation sponsored by the National Capital Planning Commission at George Mason University on Thursday.
There is growing appreciation in the military for sustainable development policies such as alternative transportation and reducing sprawl, spurred by protests in foreign countries to historic development practices at military bases viewed by some as wasteful, Gillem said.
Gillem, who served 21 years in the U.S. Air Force and reserves, including nine in active duty, was chosen to draft the policies after the Defense Department issued a public request for qualified applicants to prepare master plan policies for development, including education and training.
The sustainability policies are meant to reduce the waste of energy and water, preserve limited resources for future generations and protect the military’s commitment to global allies in an era of reduced funding and increased conflict, Gillem said.
The policies include “urban growth boundaries” that would force military bases to build more high-density, multi-story, mixed-use buildings on existing property rather than expand the footprint of the bases. Other measures would reduce reliance on automobiles and provide contractors with specific rules for how property is to be developed.
The military’s adoption of the policies “is a major shift to the way the Department of Defense has been doing things,” Gillem said. “When I’m saying we need to move away from (auto-oriented development patterns), I’m stepping on a lot of toes of people who have always done things a certain way.”
Gillem will also instruct civil engineers, architects, landscape architects, and planners in how to implement sustainable master planning policies at military installations where they work. His long-term goal, he said, is to develop sustainable master planning policies for all federal sites.
Gillem is the author of “America Town: Building the Outposts of Empire,” which reveals how modern military outposts have become key symbols of not just American power but also consumer consumption.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
MEDIA CONTACT: Matt Cooper, UO media relations, 541-346-8875, mattc@uoregon.edu
SOURCE: Mark Gillem, associate professor, architecture, 541-346-1999, mark@uoregon.edu
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