Scalable Design for Deep Energy Retrofits
ESTCP, Installation Energy and Water Program Area
Released January 4, 2024
Closed March 7, 2024
FY 2025
The Department of Defense (DoD) Installation Energy Test Bed sought cost-effective, repeatable approaches to designing and implementing building retrofits that achieve deep energy reductions, decarbonization and improved performance (indoor air quality, comfort, control, life-cycle cost). Dramatic reductions in energy use intensity of the DoD building portfolio require innovative approaches to project development that combine integrated design methods and trade-off analysis that optimize scalable solutions.
The Department’s building portfolio includes over 250,000 buildings totaling over 2 billion square feet. The Department maintains databases that include information on the building characteristics (e.g. size, construction type, vintage, etc.), location, function (e.g. administrative, barracks, warehouse, etc.) and installed equipment (e.g. boiler, chiller, etc.). Energy use data is also available but not extensively at the building level. Awarded project teams will be provided detailed data for a building, or buildings, for which to develop conceptual designs for deep energy and decarbonization retrofits. Project teams are provided portfolio-level data to be used to demonstrate approaches for scaling the design process and related deployment considerations across the building portfolio.
[The Department was also interested in proposals focused on energy retrofit solutions for buildings classified as historical, which are subject to strict architectural guidelines as per the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). Proposals submitted to address energy retrofit solutions of history buildings should be clearly marked as such.]
Proposals submitted in response to this solicitation focused on design approaches that consider building-specific conceptual design and related output, and methods to scale the design approach across the DoD building portfolio to inform current year investments and near- and mid-term planning and budgeting. Project outputs should have included:
- Demonstrated approach to efficiently conduct analysis of alternatives to achieve building retrofit performance objectives (energy and GHG reduction, life-cycle costs).
- Design and equipment selection documentation sufficient for supporting a 35% design review (budgets are typically fixed at the 35% design phase)
- Calibrated energy model(s) and approach for reapplication to similar buildings in the DoD portfolio.
- Demonstrated or detailed explanation and workflow for scaling the design approach across the building portfolio to support rapid, replicable project deployment.
- Consideration for handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI; see below).
The Department has intended to use the conceptual designs developed through this demonstration as a basis for funding building retrofit projects that are currently planned for FY25-FY26.
Note: Energy modeling of the facilities are an essential part of this effort. Defense installation energy use, real property information, occupancy patterns, digital building models, construction documents, and similar data are categorized as Defense Installation Critical Information (DCRIT), which is considered CUI. CUI cannot be transferred to or hosted on unapproved cloud servers. If cloud-enabled building modeling or analysis software is proposed for use, data must be hosted on a DoD approved cloud service.
Developing a repeatable process for implementing deep energy retrofit projects, especially in common building typologies, is critical. Conducting demonstrations in partnership with key stakeholders will facilitate technology transfer and help the Department scale proven solutions across the portfolio. Effective application of simple, scalable energy models that can be used to relatively compare alternative designs without an expensive full design will enable the Department to more efficiently execute building retrofits projects that achieve the energy reduction and decarbonization goals.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is the single largest energy consumer in the U.S. and among the Federal Government agencies. DOD owns over 250,000 buildings across its 500 installations, which account for nearly 32%1 of DoD’s total energy use. Building upgrades or renovations are planned on a 5-year budgeting cycle and can be funded with different appropriates depending on a variety of factors. The most common source of funding for building retrofit projects is from the Repair and Maintenance (RM) budgets that are generally determined as a percentage of the replacement value of the real property assets in DoD’s portfolio. Each Military Service maintains a facility modernization plan on a 5-year planning horizon, from which projects are selected.
RM-funded projects must be completed in the year funding is received. This requirement limits the amount of time that can be spent in the design phase which often results in projects that designed to minimize first cost without consideration of lifecycle operations and maintenance costs. The DoD construction design process is reliant on congressional approval of a project’s budget at the 35% phase and additional funds for energy and sustainability features cannot be added past the 35% phase without additional congressional approval, even if lifecycle cost-effective. Obtaining additional approval is often impractical because of the strict requirement to execute the project within the fiscal year. The congressionally approved construction budget is locked at the 35% design phase. To that end, an early modeling capability to compare alternatives and relative costs would enable the Department to make informed decisions and allocate funding to achieve the greatest impact while conforming to congressional requirements.
1 FY 22 ANNUAL ENERGY MANAGEMENT AND RESILIENCE REPORT (AEMRR) https://www.acq.osd.mil/eie/Downloads/IE/FY22%20AEPRR%20Report.pdf