Demonstrations are sought of innovative technologies and solutions to increase energy efficiency and improve performance of Department of Defense (DoD) buildings. Building performance objectives of particular interest to the DoD include reduced energy use intensity, improved indoor air quality, increased system and component reliability and durability, and reduced life-cycle cost. Technologies should be appropriate for building retrofit applications. Proposals of integrated combinations of technologies are also of interest, provided there is technical performance or cost benefit to the integrated solution. Technologies of interest include, but are not limited to heating, ventilation and air conditioning; building envelope technologies; water heating; lighting; waste heat recovery (for heating or cooling); and grid-integrated solutions for demand flexibility.

Demonstrations with the following characteristics are preferable: 

• High calculable energy savings, in addition to cost savings, as a direct result of the technology. 
• Clear method for measuring the technology’s impact on building performance. 
• A clear pathway to technology adoption by Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and utility providers for inclusion in Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC) or Utility Energy Services Contracts (UESC) 
• Partnering with key stakeholders to enable shared learning and facilitate technology transfer. 

Proposed technologies and methods should have completed all proof-of-principle work. ESTCP supports demonstration at a scale sufficient to determine the life-cycle operational cost and performance of the technology.

DoD’s Resilient and Healthy Defense Communities strategy outlines the Department’s actions to improve the built and natural environment on defense installations to ensure healthy, safe, functional, and resilient spaces for Service members, families, and the civilian workforce.¹ More energy efficient and flexible building energy systems reduce annual operating costs and can improve buildings’ resilience to natural or man-made disruptions to the commercial electric utility.

The DoD has more than 500 installations worldwide, with 300,000 buildings, that account for about 30 percent of the DoD’s total energy use. In FY2020, DoD consumed 204,767 billion Btu (BBtu) of installation energy, of which, 197,993 BBtu was consumed by buildings2. Many of the DoD buildings have legacy units that operate at poor operating efficiency levels due to lack of robust and consistent preventative and regular maintenance of these units over the years. Many units are simply run to failure. 

Recently constructed DoD buildings generally adhere to current building codes and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards. However, over 50% of the existing building stock was built before 1980 (25% was built before 1950) prior to the implementation of the first building codes established to improve building energy efficiency (~1975). With this large inventory of old inefficient buildings and building systems, there is great opportunity to retrofit these buildings with current and emerging technologies to improve building performance and reduce building operating costs.