You are a captain and the base engineer at a large army post in Mississippi. It's an old base. Most of its housing, 2,000 units in all, dates back to the Korean War. The gas heating and electric air conditioning systems in the units are expensive to run and maintain. They frequently break down, and they heat and cool inefficiently. The heaters have recently caused several fires. You and the base commander have agreed that the equipment must be replaced. But with what?

You decide you need a feasibility study that will lead to a feasibility report to the base commander. As you study the problem, it's clear that the choice lies between updated (and more efficient versions) of the current equipment and geothermal heat pumps (GHPs).

The criteria for the choice begin to emerge: initial cost, maintenance cost, energy cost, efficiency, safety, and environmental impact. Luckily, you have a pilot program at Fort Polk in Louisiana to draw data from. Results there indicate that GHPs are better by every criterion. It becomes clear what your final recommendation will be. Now, you have to organize and write a report to support that recommendation.

For details on how to structure recommendation reports, read on in this chapter.