Civil engineers tops at design Published Dec. 10, 2009 By Brandice J. Armstrong Tinker Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The 72nd Air Base Wing Civil Engineer Directorate won the 2009 Air Force Sustainable Design Honor award for the Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan. Tinker was one of two Air Force bases to win the Honor award for sustainable design. Also, Tinker and Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC, the company which worked with 72nd CE on the plan, were jointly recognized for their efforts with an award from the Chicago Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. "The INRMP is our roadmap for stewardship and conservation," said Gene Gallogly, 72nd CE director. "The team poured their hearts into this effort, and the Air Force recognized their hard work and expertise with the top award for sustainable design. In a year when sustainability is on everyone's mind, it's truly special to earn this recognition." The 2009 Design Awards Program recognized 18 Air Force units for their design initiatives in an array of categories including "Planning Studies and Design Guides," "Sustainable Design," "Interior Design" and "Facility Design." Awards were presented to units for one of three levels: "Honor," "Merit" and "Citation." The Honor recognition is the most prestigious of the levels. Entries for the sustainable-design category were judged on qualities including "uniqueness of the design solution," "use of renewable or recycled resources" and "compatibility with other facilities on the installation." The plan, for which Tinker was recognized, is a strategy to encourage a healthy urban ecosystem that is cohesive with the military mission. By studying the area's vegetative community, officials were able to link pollution control, military readiness, disaster preparedness, warfighter health and wellness, with the area's natural resources. Because of the urban-forest inventory, which was done as a baseline for the plan, Tinker saved a considerable amount of money and time after the December 2008 ice storm. The storm annihilated more than 1,200 on-base trees and harmed hundreds more. Civil engineering officials used the inventory to determine cleanup costs and recovery costs. "...refreshing to see natural resources considered as assets rather than liabilities" and "more than meets the design intent of sustainability in terms of improving the built environment to support community, human health and well-being," were two judges' comments used in reference to Tinker's submission. On behalf of the Tinker-SAIC team, SAIC submitted and received an Award of Excellence from STC's 2009-2010 competition, Chicago Chapter. The "Excellence" rating follows "Distinguished" and precedes "Merit." The INRMP is now eligible to compete in international competition. SAIC team members provided support from the Del City and Oak Ridge, Tenn. offices. The STC is an individual membership organization that aims to recognize excellence in the development and design of instructional and informational tools. Its mission is to advance the arts and sciences of technical communication.