The South Dakota National Guard Construction and Facilities Management Office earned the 2023 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Sustainability.
The award recognizes efforts to prevent or eliminate pollution at the source, including practices that increase efficiency and sustainability in the use of raw materials, energy, water, or other resources.
The organization’s win at the Army level allowed them to compete against all Department of Defense agencies, where they earned second place.
The National Guard is sharing their lessons learned with other state agencies to promote waste diversion and energy reduction.
“The ethic of sustainability is taking root throughout the statewide installations,” said Maj. William Domagall, SDNG Environmental Program Manager. “We have the ability to shift perspectives in energy reduction and waste diversion in communities and installations across the state.”
The state National Guard already accomplished the army’s 2025 goal of 50% waste diversion by achieving a diversion rate of over 52% last year, according to a press release. Domagall said the guard is also pursuing other measures to reduce energy consumption by utilizing passive heating solar walls and geothermal heating and cooling.