Military installations are largely dependent on a commercial power grid that is vulnerable to disruption from cyber-attacks, aging infrastructure, weather-related events, and direct attack. As the frequency and duration of electricity outages increase, DoD has prioritized its ability to withstand and rapidly recover from energy disruptions.
ESTCP scouts and demonstrates commercial technologies that advance energy and water security and reduce costs associated with installation operations. Technology demonstrations conducted at installations provide developers a low-risk opportunity to test product performance when integrated with legacy systems, operated under real-world conditions, and subject to DoD-specific requirements. Demonstrations also accelerate technology adoption by collecting cost and performance data and providing installation managers hands-on technology experience without the financial risk of a product procurement.
Improving building performance reduces operating costs at military installations and provides a safer, healthier and more productive work environment. As the nation’s largest single energy consumer, DoD spends close to $4 billion every year on facility energy consumption. Of that total, 95 percent is spent to power, heat, and cool buildings. ESTCP funds efforts to retrofit DoD’s large inventory of old inefficient buildings with current and emerging technologies that reduce costs across DoD through optimized energy usage and improves indoor environment through advanced sensor and control system technologies.
DoD installations support a wide array of mission-critical functions, including the production, deployment, and maintenance of weapon systems; the training and mobilization of combat forces; and the direct support for combat operations. To power these missions, installations must have access to reliable and resilient sources of energy. ESTCP demonstrates technologies that improve DoD energy resilience through increased system reliability, as well as greater flexibility in the control and delivery of power, wherever and whenever it is needed.
As buildings become “smarter,” new technologies rely more heavily on networks to integrate with central control systems to maximize their performance and optimize system-wide operations. The control systems, ranging from building environmental controls to large-scale systems such as the electrical power grid, are often integrated with organizational IT systems to promote connectivity, efficiency, and remote access capabilities. This level of interconnectivity increases the “attack surface” for cyber threats. To address the growing threat posed by cyber-attacks to these control systems, ESTCP demonstrates innovative hardware and software solutions to secure industrial controls.
The availability, cost, and quality of water supplies are critical concerns for military installations and military operations within the United States and around the world. Of equal concern is the increasing interdependence of water and energy supplies, in which water is required to produce energy and energy is required to provide water. SERDP and ESTCP fund technology demonstrations that inform DoD’s water resource planning, reduce water use intensity, and improve water system management and sustainment.
