Engineering topics

Wendel, Emily M.

Publications and source records attributed to Wendel, Emily M..

4 records

DOE OSTI2020

Optimal Sizing of Resilience Solutions for the U.S. Army Reserve

Power or water outages in buildings threaten the ability of the military to support surrounding communities during natural disasters. Outages can last for days, weeks or months. Typical solutions include very expensive batteries and onsite generation that are sized based on historical power needs. The U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) has teamed up with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) to develop a simulation framework that optimizes future power needs to reduce the cost of resilience solutions. The approach starts with the building. Power needs during an emergency event are simulated at the building end-use level, then loads are reduced through the selection of life cycle cost-effective building-level technology improvements. These new optimized loads are then fed into a microgrid sizing tool that dynamically constructs many different combinations of solar photovoltaic, battery storage, and generator resources to meet the load for hundreds of statistically generated outage scenarios. Six site assessments completed by USAR and PNNL in 2019 have resulted in a 1-14% reduction in overall investment when optimizing the buildings first before determining the generation requirements. This approach helps the Army secure critical missions and provide a 14 day-minimum supply of necessary energy and water in the most efficient manner.

buidlings, efficiency, resilience, FEDS, MCOR↗

DOE OSTI2018

Making Progress toward Net Zero Sites in the Army Reserve through Analysis of Multiple Scenarios

The U.S. Army Reserve (USAR) prioritized achieving net zero as part of its Sustainability Program in 2013, and developed a pilot that investigated net zero energy, water, and waste at 10 sites. Pilot sites were selected based on mission requirements for energy and water resilience and the likelihood of achieving the technical and economic thresholds for net zero. USAR owns and operates hundreds of sites that typically consist of between 2 and 10 buildings. The pilot sites were intentionally dispersed across the U.S. and its territories to provide a range of geographic characteristics where the net zero potential could be analyzed and solutions could be developed. For the Army, changes to operations must support the mission and enhance readiness, which includes increasing efficiency and resiliency. To facilitate alignment of project prioritization with different goals and site-specific needs, a net zero roadmap outlined three scenarios for project implementation: (1) cost-effective measures, (2) net zero measures, and (3) recommended measures. Each scenario included the same measures for some sites, while others had three different outcomes. USAR has used these roadmaps to plan and execute projects and move toward net zero at multiple sites since 2014, with the primary focus on the cost-effective and recommended scenarios. As conditions and costs change, additional measures required to achieve net zero are considered. This paper describes the methodology deployed for analyzing net zero for the USAR and discusses the benefits of working toward net zero under three distinct scenarios.

Net Zero↗

DOE OSTI2013

Army Net Zero. Water Balance and Roadmap Programmatic Summary

In 2011, the Department of the Army created the net zero initiative to advance the sustainability of the Army by managing natural resources with the goal of establishing net zero installations. The Net Zero concept is founded upon the idea of consuming natural resources responsibly based upon knowledge of long-term resource availability, creating a sustainable environment to support the installation’s long-term mission. The Army is pursuing net zero programs in energy, water, and waste. To kick off the net zero initiative, the Army selected installations to demonstrate the concept of net zero energy, water, and waste. This document is an overview of assessments performed at the eight net zero water installations. Each assessment included a water balance and a roadmap intended to provide pilot installations with a strategic approach to achieve net zero goals.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2013

Reverse Osmosis Optimization

This technology evaluation was prepared by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). The technology evaluation assesses techniques for optimizing reverse osmosis (RO) systems to increase RO system performance and water efficiency. This evaluation provides a general description of RO systems, the influence of RO systems on water use, and key areas where RO systems can be optimized to reduce water and energy consumption. The evaluation is intended to help facility managers at Federal sites understand the basic concepts of the RO process and system optimization options, enabling them to make informed decisions during the system design process for either new projects or recommissioning of existing equipment. This evaluation is focused on commercial-sized RO systems generally treating more than 80 gallons per hour.

McMordie Stoughton, Kate L.↗