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Achieving Resiliency on Federal Projects Abroad
By Rob McAtee, Director of Energy & Sustainability Services, and Grant Page, Senior Engineer, Energy & Sustainability Services
As featured in Federal Construction Magazine,
Resiliency is a critical consideration for government facilities operating overseas, as they must be equipped to withstand both natural and human threats. This involves implementing robust infrastructure and strategic planning that can effectively mitigate risks associated with natural disasters, such as earthquakes and severe weather, while addressing potential human threats related to terrorism and/or civil unrest.
Making resiliency a priority allows these mission-critical facilities to continue operating and providing essential services in the face of a variety of unplanned events.
Mitigating the Evolving External Risks
As threats and disasters have evolved over time, the definition of resiliency has evolved to meet every new challenging circumstance and test the creativity of those tasked with preparedness efforts. Hurricane Katrina was the first time the world was exposed to the inadequacy of infrastructure in the face of a new breed of natural disaster.
In the intervening years, many such hurricanes, flooding, and other natural disasters, as well as cyber and physical attacks on energy infrastructure have brought the need to build more resilient structures to the forefront of every owner’s mind. Designers and contractors have been given the task of providing solutions that not only stand up to disasters and threats, but that build in sustainability and flexibility in response to budgetary fluctuations and rapidly evolving operational needs.
Building resilient infrastructure is particularly challenging in parts of the world where certain basic resources can be scarce and unpredictable, even in more temperate conditions and times. For government agencies requiring a physical presence in locales where water and energy distribution systems are not as reliable or robust as they are in their home country, it is important that these critical resources are investigated and addressed early in the planning process.
When Water & Power Are Unpredictable
The 24×7 municipal power grids that we often take for granted are not standard civil infrastructure everywhere in the world, especially in less developed countries and regions. In some places, electricity is only available during certain hours of the day or certain days of the week.
Often, even these sporadic schedules cannot be relied upon, requiring the extensive use of generators to maintain operations during down times and disruptions.
Likewise, the ability to open a tap and access an adequate flow of water is not always a given. This presents a challenge in not only providing water for operational functions such as cooling, maintenance, and sanitation, but also the most basic need of all—providing safe and plentiful drinking water. And this need must be met before any project can even think of breaking ground.
Awareness of the inconsistent and/or limited access to power and water at a desired project location is important. Knowing how to address these challenges is a far more complicated matter. Yet even when faced with far less than ideal conditions for constructing and operating a government facility, there are measures that can be taken that will allow any location to be hospitable in terms of maintaining essential utilities.
Determining the Optimal Case Scenario
When determining the power and water needs of a new facility, many owners and developers believe that the safe approach is to determine the worst-case scenario and build to meet those conditions. This approach hopes to ensure that in the event of disruptions or emergencies, enough capacity can be supplied by backup generators and tanks to address any conceivable outage.
While this is certainly sensible in theory, it is far from practical or even advisable given the other realities that will come into play. First and foremost is the budget. Generators and backup storage are expensive and require extensive maintenance during periods of dormancy. Designing a power system to handle these worst-case scenario loads adds considerable cost, while potentially making it less stable when operating at a typical load on a day-to-day basis.
A better approach is to analyze power and energy needs from a broader perspective with the goal of developing a right-sized solution. This method will account for those emergency-type situations, but focus more on the typical and likely scenarios, with the goal of not busting capital and maintenance budgets.
For example, in emergency situations, it may be unlikely that many support functions and non-essential services will be in use. Achieving reasonable usage profiles, however, will require the expertise of a consultant who is well-practiced in this type of analysis.
As with any planning effort, the ability to arrive at optimal solutions lies in the value of the data available to analyze. If a facility is being built on a military base or government compound, utility bills of similar buildings located nearby can be examined to determine load rates at various times of the day so that load profile models can be developed in recognition of peak usage.
This exercise should be completed whenever missions based at an installation change, which can be frequently. Fortunately, the task gets easier once those involved have access to the right data.
Capturing Valuable Data to Chart the Right Path
To attain an even clearer picture and develop more extensive models, an investment should be made during the planning phase of the project into capturing metered data from similar building types and uses, or missions in the same climate zone. Although meters are a requirement on most federally funded projects, they often are installed later in the project, missing the opportunity for additional data collection early on.
Despite the known benefits of obtaining metered data, it is not always common practice. Although meters are relatively inexpensive to purchase and install, the upfront cost is an easy line item to strike when the budget is being pinched. It is important to make the case that this type of investment almost always pays for itself by resulting in a more efficient system down the line.
It should be noted that effectively monitoring meters can be labor-intensive and require close coordination with various on-site stakeholders. Installation must follow strict guidelines, and the meters must be correctly connected so that the data is properly collected. The entire system must also be regularly serviced and maintained to ensure the integrity of the data over time.
With the right data at hand and necessary expertise to make sense of it, a comprehensive energy and water security analysis can be performed. Such a report will identify weaknesses and make recommendations on how best to address them. It must also include evaluations of solutions that benefit normal operations while still meeting emergency needs.
Often, a sweet spot can be reached that meets not only emergency conditions but also aids in day-to-day operations. An example of this is seen in the installation of renewable energy with storage, which can reduce the size of required fuel storage tanks and other infrastructure while aiding in energy reduction and emissions targets
The military, in particular, has been quite effective in striking this balance on projects and there are many lessons learned that can be leveraged from their efforts.
The All-Important People Factor
Resiliency efforts rightfully focus on structures and the systems that support them. But equally important to achieving resilience is recognizing that the work is not done when the construction is completed. The people who will be operating and maintaining the solutions put in place are critical to their success, both in the short and long term.
Proper operational procedures should be developed with clear instructions and training provided. Maintenance schedules should be established to ensure that the systems will remain efficient throughout their expected life cycle. Workers should be given the tools and expertise to monitor performance and make adjustments. Implementing the latest automation and control systems for a building’s utilities is another upfront cost that will pay major dividends in the long run.
Of course, these are all the things that “should” happen, but often staff turnover and entropy get in the way. For example, meters stop reading, often for simple reasons like broken connections, bad routers, or software updates. Leaders must realize that keeping metering and monitoring systems online is critical so that early signs of trouble can be addressed.
A big part of resiliency is flexibility and adaptability, and it is here where coordination with leadership plays a major role. As operations and missions change, management must have the ability to adapt in terms of the power and water being supplied to a facility. This may mean scaling up to take on new operations or cutting back to eliminate waste and inefficiencies should demand decrease.
Leveraging Self-Sufficiency
Because many new federal facilities being constructed in foreign countries are located on existing bases or campuses, opportunities may exist to create an integrated distribution system that serves every building and structure. In addition to, or in lieu of connecting to a local utility grid, combined heat and power (CHP) systems can be implemented to meet building loads.
Integrating renewable energy, typically PV, into the mix is a further win and leads to greater self-sufficiency. And when it comes to resiliency, becoming self-sufficient having control over the source of power and water greatly reduces vulnerabilities and threats.
Building for Tomorrow
Building in resiliency on federal projects constructed abroad requires a multi-faceted approach developed by a design and construction team experienced in the specific market. Many technical, logistical, and financial challenges must be overcome, but a coordinated effort that values input from all stakeholders can produce an optimal solution that meets the owner’s objectives and needs.
As conditions become more unpredictable, both in the natural and working environments, resilience in infrastructure will only become more critical in the future. By prioritizing resilience, these mission-critical facilities can ensure operational continuity, protect personnel, and maintain essential services—reinforcing and safeguarding national security objectives. Building towards that reality begins today.
Rob McAtee, Director of Energy & Sustainability Services, Mason & Hanger, has more than 30 years of experience in the design and optimization of building and industrial energy systems including large central utility plants and solar PV installations. He is currently leading efforts within Mason & Hanger for the design of multiple microgrids for U.S. Military installations nationwide.
Grant Page, PE, LEED AP BD+C Senior Engineer, Energy & Sustainability Services, Mason & Hanger, has more than 20 years of mechanical engineering design experience, including military, higher education, medical, and K-12. His expertise includes energy management and control systems (EMCS), energy modeling, life cycle cost analysis, energy analysis, energy conservation measures, ground source systems, and sustainability and resilience design.
Figure Notes
Figure 1 – Damage to Tyndall AFB from Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Figure 2 – A centralized generator plant can provide more energy resilience than building-by-building generation. Photographer: Scott Wertz
Figure 3 – Critical missions require 14-days of on-site energy storage. Determining the actual power requirements during emergency situations can result in a better and less expensive project. Photographer: Scott Wertz
Figure 4 – example of control system communications. Continued monitoring is important, but there must be a commitment to repair items quickly.
