Air Force adopts 3-D energy modeling

The Air Force Research Lab is looking to cut costs and increase energy efficiency in buildings at Tinker Air Force using a rapid energy modeling solution.

Through a $1.2 million research contract with the AFRL, Autodesk Inc. will provide REM that uses the building’s construction, geometry and local climate conditions to build a 3-D model that will deliver energy insights, according to Autodesk.

The REM solution captures data from satellite images and aerial photos, computes energy performance using a conceptual model and reports on the results using charts and graphs. The visualization shows energy consumption that will help facility managers identify retrofit possibilities that could help reduce energy consumption and costs. At Tinker, the REM technology will help energy managers assess energy use and building priorities.

This initiative is part of the Air Force Alternative Energy Platform. The research lab is looking to identify and demonstrate solutions that could potentially improve the Air Force’s overall energy posture, reduce energy costs, promote building energy management, regularly report on building energy usage and increase energy security.

The Department of Defense can ultimately use this information as a model or base for how to assess the energy consumption in all of its 845,000 facilities across 800 bases and more than 4,000 defense sites.