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At least 1,027 records · Page 57

Status of NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communication Technology Demonstration

With NASA funding, the Deep Space Optical Communication (DSOC) Project at JPL is planning a system level technology demonstration of optical communications from deep space. A 22 cm diameter flight laser transceiver (FLT) is being developed for space flight. The FLT will be designed to transmit an average laser power of 4W at 1550 nm and receive a weak 1064 nm laser signal (> 100 femtowatts). Use of the Hale telescope at Palomar Mountain, CA, retrofitted with a photoncounting receiver to detect the downlink from space, is planned. The Optical Communication Telescope Laboratory (OCTL) at Table Mountain, CA will transmit a 1064 nm laser beacon to serve as a pointing reference for the FLT and support low-rate uplink data-rates. The DSOC FLT is part of the baseline payload for the Psyche mission spacecraft recently selected for flight by NASA, providing link demonstration opportunities during the mission cruise phase. Link demonstration opportunities at distances of approximately 0.1 to 2 astronomical units (AU) are expected. The DSOC system is being designed to support downlink data-rates of 0.2 to > 200 Mb/s and uplink data rates of approximately 1.6 kb/s. A status update of DSOC Project activities on flight and ground development will be summarized in this paper.

Biswas, Abhijit↗

Honeywell Enhancing Airplane State Awareness (EASA) Project: Final Report on Refinement and Evaluation of Candidate Solutions for Airplane System State Awareness

The loss of pilot airplane state awareness (ASA) has been implicated as a factor in several aviation accidents identified by the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST). These accidents were investigated to identify precursors to the loss of ASA and develop technologies to address the loss of ASA. Based on a gap analysis, two technologies were prototyped and assessed with a formative pilot-in-the-loop evaluation in NASA Langley’s full-motion Research Flight Deck. The technologies address: 1) data source anomaly detection in real-time, and 2) intelligent monitoring aids to provide nominal and predictive awareness of situations to be monitored and a mission timeline to visualize events of interest. The evaluation results indicated favorable impressions of both technologies for mitigating the loss of ASA in terms of operational utility, workload, acceptability, complexity, and usability. The team concludes that there is a feasible retrofit solution for improving ASA that would minimize certification risk, integration costs, and training impact.

Whitlow, Stephen D.↗

Lunar Glovebox Balance with Wireless Technology

The most important equipment required for processing lunar samples is a high-quality mass balance for maintaining accurate weight inventory, security, and scientific study. After careful review, a Curation Office memo by Michael Duke in 1978 chose the Mettler PL200 to be used for sample weight measurements inside the gloveboxes (Fig. 3). These commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) balances did not meet the strict accepted material requirements in the Lunar lab. As a result, each balance housing, weighing pan, and wiring was custom retrofitted to meet Lunar Operating Procedure (LOP) 54 requirements [for material construction restrictions]. The original design drawings for the custom housings, readout support stands, and wiring were done by the JSC engineering directorate. The 1977- 1978 schematics, drawings, and files are now housed in the curation Data Center. Per the design specifications, the housing was fabricated from aluminum grade 6061 T6, seamless welds, and anodized per MIL-A-8625 type I, class I. The balance feet were TFE Teflon and any required joints were sealed with Viton A gaskets. The readout display and support stands outside the glovebox were fabricated from 300 series stainless steel with #4 finish and mounted to the glovebox with welded bolts. Wire harnesses that linked the balance with the outside display and power were encapsulated with TFE Teflon and transported through custom Deutsch wire bulk head pass-through systems from inside to outside the glovebox. These Deutsch connectors were custom fabricated with 316L stainless steel bodies, Viton A O-rings, aluminum 6061 with electroless nickel plating, Teflon (replacing the silicone), and gold crimp connectors (no soldering). Many of the Deutsch connectors may have been used in the Apollo program high vacuum complex in building 37 and date to about 1968 to 1970.

Zeigler, Ryan A.↗

A Case Study on the Challenges and Opportunities for the Deployment of PHM Capabilities in Existing Engineering Systems

The field of Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) of engineering systems has experienced considerable growth over the last decade. From benefits associated with faster and more powerful hardware in the form of wireless sensors, edge devices, and general computing capabilities (GPU’s and cloud computing), to development of powerful algorithms for anomaly detection and remaining useful life (RUL) estimation, the number of engineering systems featuring advanced diagnostics and prognostics capabilities continues to grow at an increasingly faster pace. However, the deployment of PHM capabilities as part of the upgrade of existing engineering systems presents multiple challenges to the PHM practitioner charged with retrofitting such systems. Issues include a lack of specific instrumentation needed to capture the signals of interest; insufficient data and sampling rates required for fault detection and diagnosis, and for detection of failure/degradation indicators; and difficulties in the identification of a system’s nominal behavior as a result of age induced degradation. Today’s PHM practitioner must be able to quickly identify and assess these types of issues to effectively evaluate and select the optimal PHM strategies required to achieve the desired results. This paper presents results from the preliminary evaluation of the High-Pressure Gas Facility (HPGF) infrastructure at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, Mississippi. This evaluation is part of a feasibility study conducted prior to the deployment of prognostics and diagnostics capabilities in the pumps skids of the liquid nitrogen (LN2) system of the HPGF.

Condition Based Maintenance↗

Restoration of NASA's Mobile Analytical Lunar Platform (MALP) as a Prototype Science Exploration Device using a Public, Private, Academic (PPA) Model

A prototype 6-wheeled rover originally developed by NASA JSC for astronaut transport has been modernized and augmented to support concepts for telerobotic exploration of the lunar surface. The ongoing project has employed teams of undergraduate senior engineering students at Texas A&M University (TAMU) to retrofit the Mobile Analytical Lunar Platform (MALP) with wireless technology for telerobotic operations, and to add a robotic arm for regolith sample collection, sieving, storage and transportation.

Telerobotic Rover↗

Systems Health Monitoring: Integrating FMEA into Bayesian Networks

The foreseeable high traffic density suggests that a large number of electric propulsion systems will enter the airspace, and that they will also operate at high frequency, e.g., large number of take offs and landings per unit time. The reliability of such critical systems is therefore key to ensure high safety standards in the low-altitude airspace. Diagnostic systems, which aim at identifying incipient faults, can mitigate unexpected failures or lower-than-expected reliability by performing early fault detection by monitoring the systems. A key element of fault diagnosis is fault detection and isolation (FDI), which complexity increases with the complexity of the system itself, namely the number of subsystems and components, interactions among sub-systems, and the number of sensors available. The proposed approach leverages combination of failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) integrated with Bayesian networks, thus introducing dependability structures into a diagnostic framework to aid FDI. Faults and failure events from the FMEA are mapped within a Bayesian network, where network edges replicate the links embedded within FMEAs. The integrated framework enables the fault isolation process by identifying the probability of occurrence of specific faults or root causes given evidence observed through sensor signals. In this work, sub systems of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) type vehicle like avionics, structures, power-train etc. are taken into account to show the approach at the system level. This work integrates early design phase in the development of UAM type vehicles with diagnostic tools, which are often developed later in the product life-cycle, or retrofitted at a later time on systems. Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) derived for the system in the design phase is embedded within a Bayesian network (BN).

UAM↗

Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC)

NASA’s future deep space science and exploration missions will require enhanced communications and navigation services. Laser communications offers expanded bandwidth and the potential for satisfying this need, with comparable mass and power as state of the art telecommunication systems. Consequently, NASA is planning a Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) technology demonstration, to retire the risk for future enhanced optical communication services. NASA’s upcoming Psyche Mission scheduled to launch in August of 2022 plans to host a DSOC flight laser transceiver (FLT) for demonstrating optical links from deep-space to earth. Existing ground assets retrofitted with laser transmitters and photon-counting receivers will be used for the technology demonstration. Advancing optical technology from near-Earth ranges to deep space (> 0.01 astronomical units or AU) involves orders of magnitude increased link difficulty (defined as data-rate squared distance). The plan to bridge the difficulty gap implements new technologies developed over the past two decades. These technologies emphasize high photon efficiency (HPE) with the use of high-peak-to-average power laser transmitters in space, and single photon counting sensitivity detectors, that together support signaling schemes for achieving approximately 23 information bits per detected photon. Implementing HPE schemes relies on accurate and stable pointing of narrow laser beams from space platforms using active control. Key developments needed for future technology infusion, following a successful DSOC technology demonstration, include, cost-effective ground infrastructure, long term reliability of space lasers and detection systems, and solutions for high precision laser ranging. The current status of the DSOC Project and plans for future development will be discussed in this paper.

Biswas, Abhijit↗

Computational Aerodynamic Analysis in Support of the CRM Tail Cone Thruster Configuration Wind Tunnel Test

NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) project is breaching the boundaries of aircraft design in pursuit of eco-friendly solutions that are compatible with urban noise comfort levels. Boundary layer ingesting (BLI) propulsion systems promise to reduce fuel burn with additional potential benefits in noise reduction. Type-II BLI systems of the STARC-ABL type are the subject of a test campaign planned for fiscal year 2022 in the National Transonic Facility (NTF), for which a CRM-based model with a retrofitted tail cone thruster (TCT) has been designed. The present work is a precursor to the NTF test, where the 240 cases planned for the experiment were simulated using the Launch, Ascent and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA)computational framework. Solution sensitivity to angle of attack, engine operating conditions, and the presence of the supporting structure (sting) in the wind tunnel test are analyzed in the extensive dataset. The main flow features contributing to the inlet distortion are identified as the vertical tail wake, wing downwash and fuselage upsweep vortices, with the latter two experiencing the greatest sensitivity to angle of attack. Finally, results from an inlet-guide-vane(IGV) design/integration study are presented. The LAVA team and the turbomachinery design team at NASA’s Ames and Glenn Research Centers are collaborating in an effort to reduce flow distortion upstream of the fan by means of integrating an IGV system into the CRM-TCT model. A significant improvement in flow distortion metrics has been achieved since the initial design iteration. Results employing an actuator zone model with realistic radially-varying thrust profiles to simulate first-order fan effects within LAVA are presented.

AATT↗

Tours of High-containment and Pristine Facilities in Support of Mars Sample Return (MSR) Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) Definition Studies

During 2019 and 2020, the NASA Tiger Team RAMA (acronym of the authors) toured several high-containment biosafety laboratories and pristine space-mission facilities worldwide to better understand their practices, capabilities, and lessons-learned to aid in planning a Sample Receiving Facility (SRF) in support of Mars Sample Return (MSR). The team also included tours of a manufacturer of mobile and modular high-containment facilities as well as manufacturers of isolators and gloveboxes. In addition, the team visited the European Space Agency (ESA)ultraclean and sterile ISO 3 / airborne molecular contamination -9 (AMC-9) isolator line to clean and assemble the most critical hardware for ESA’s ExoMars Mars Lander System, and researchers developing a novel double-walled isolator (DWI) and robotic handling techniques in support of an MSR SRF. The RAMA team visits covered several construction modalities for an MSR SRF: (1) a new traditional fixed facility; (2) use of an existing fixed Biosafety Level 4(BSL-4) facility; (3) a novel modular BSL-4 approach; and (4) a hybrid combination of fixed, modular, and existing facilities. A new fixed facility approach can be tailored to MSR’s needs and is the approach used by all U.S. BSL-4 laboratories constructed to date. However, this approach could be the most expensive modality, take the longest to implement (8-12 years), and have significant programmatic risk of delay. The utilization of an existing BSL-4 facility may be possible depending on the final contamination control and science requirements for the MSR SRF. Due to the internal dimensions of the labs visited and facility structural requirements, it is unlikely that any modification can be made to the facility to meet cleanliness requirements. Furthermore, due to possible construction delays, possible capacity issues, and potential cross contamination vectors from in-house select agents, there may also be significant programmatic risks for sharing an existing facility. Another approach is building a contemporary modular facility. This is a novel approach that has recently been used for a BSL-3/3Ag facilities. The modular elements would be installed in a traditional building or shell structure. A modular facility has many advantages over a traditional fixed facility with lower costs, shorter design/construction/ commissioning schedule, and flexibility for easier retrofits and future expansion. Lastly, a hybrid approach of combining the use of either: (1) a modular facility inside a new fixed facility or (2) a modular and/or fixed BSL-4 annex in conjunction with an existing BSL-4 space should be considered. The advantage of a hybrid approach is that the facility could leverage the strengths of other approaches. Beyond facility construction approaches, the RAMA team investigated technologies and techniques for isolating and handling Martian samples in pristine environments. For example, ESA has been studying and developing a DWI breadboard along with other sample-handling technologies. The research and development investment for clean, remote manipulation and robotics at the start of the facility design phase would be beneficial to the SRF. Additionally, under-standing the lessons learned from Thales Alenia Space during the construction and operation of the most advanced state-of-the-art precision cleaning, sterilization, and assembly glovebox isolators ever developed for spacecraft hardware are also critical for the SRF. The RAMA team lays out a summary of the 18 facilities toured, and includes 43 observations,18 findings, and 22 areas of possible follow-up that the RAMA team and others could pursue to enable further findings. The observations and findings illustrate that constructing an MSR SRF would combine the complexity of both high-containment and pristine facilities, and merging these technologies would be challenging, but achievable.

Mars Sample Return↗

Design and Commissioning of an In-Air Coronagraph Testbed in the HCIT facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

After completing its duty in the vacuum chamber at the High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the General Purpose Coronagraph Testbed (GPCT) has been retrofitted as the In-Air Coronagraph Testbed (IACT), with the purpose of verification of Boston Micromachines (BMC) 50x50 MEMS deformable mirrors (MEMS DM) performance by contrast comparison before and after random vibration testing. The testbed is configured as a vortex coronagraph, with one MEMS DM in the pupil plane to create a half dark hole in monochromatic light. High wavefront stability is achieved using an environmentally isolating enclosure, based on the enclosure design previously used on Caltech’s High Contrast Spectroscopy Testbed (HCST). Further, a smaller enclosure has been designed which will enforce humidity conditions necessary for the MEMS DM to operate. We expect this testbed to achieve 1e-8 contrast, and will use this contrast level as a baseline to assess survival or failure of MEMS DMs during vibration testing. In this presentation, we will present an overview of the design of the IACT, commissioning results, and plans for upcoming DM tests in preparation for launch on future space telescopes with coronagraph instruments.

Mejia-Prada, Camilo↗

NASA’s Handheld Ionizer Tool for Astronauts

NASA’s next human lunar mission will require handheld tools to eliminate dust accumulation as well as electrostatic charge for the upcoming manned missions to the moon in the Artemis Program. The Moon’s lack of substantial atmosphere means the lunar surface is directly exposed to the solar wind, solar UV radiation, and cosmic rays which can cause dielectric charging of the lunar regolith via the photoelectric effect. The result is a layer of highly charged dust that is levitated and transported about a meter off the surface called the “horizon glow” as seen by the Apollo astronauts. The complex lunar electrostatic environment coupled with the surface dust behavior poses a concern for the longevity of surface infrastructures. The Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory at NASA’S Kennedy Space Center retrofitted a commercial ionizer and successfully demonstrated that air ionizers are effective at removing dust particles and the static charge in high vacuum. Additional work is planned to establish the optimal voltage and flow characteristic to develop a high-fidelity ground prototype for future flight certification.

Electrostatics↗

Changes in Characteristics of Future Climate Across the U.S.: Time Series Analysis of Climate Model Data by NASA POWER

NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) project facilitates the use of NASA Earth Science data holdings within the energy, agricultural, and building heating/cooling design industries. POWER packages solar and meteorological data at various temporal levels from several NASA projects in a user friendly GIS-enabled web services system (https://power.larc.nasa.gov). Data users can access these data either through an intuitive data viewer, image services fully integrable with GIS analysis, connections in the cloud through an Amazon Web Services S3 Bucket, or fully customizable access through an API. Data provided by POWER has been used to remotely monitor solar array fields and integrated in a sizing tool for off-grid solar and storage systems. POWER data has also been coupled with key building decision tools to support design and retrofitting of building energy systems for energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gases. POWER is now developing capabilities to provide time series of the projected future evolution of surface quantities important to future energy production and use, such as heating/cooling degree days, temperature, wind speed, and downwelling solar flux. We present here a range of possible future changes in these quantities at locations throughout the continental United States. We show how both average and extreme values of the quantities will evolve from present-day to future climate conditions. We plan to provide these projections for users in the energy and sustainable energy communities.

Bradley M. Hegyi↗

NASA POWER: Providing Present and Future Climate Services Based on NASA Data for the Energy, Agricultural, and Sustainable Buildings Communities

NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource (POWER) project facilitates the use of NASA Earth Science data holdings within the renewable energy, agricultural, and building heating/cooling design industries. POWER packages solar and meteorological data at various temporal levels from several NASA projects in a user friendly GIS-enabled web services system (https://power.larc.nasa.gov). Data users can access these data either through an intuitive data viewer, image services fully integrable with GIS analysis, connections in the cloud through an Amazon Web Services S3 Bucket, or fully customizable access through an API. Data provided by POWER has been successfully used by decision makers to support actions that address climate change. For example, POWER data has been used to remotely monitor solar array fields and integrated in a sizing tool for off-grid solar and storage systems. POWER data has also been coupled with key building decision tools to support design and retrofitting of building energy systems for energy efficiency and reduction of greenhouse gases. POWER is now developing climate services to provide time series of the projected future evolution of key quantities that interest our users, such as heating/cooling degree days, temperature, wind speed, and downwelling solar flux. We demonstrate the potential of the new climate services by presenting here a range of possible future changes in these quantities at different NASA centers across the continental United States. These data services are based on downscaled climate model data from the NASA Earth Exchange Global Daily Downscaled Projections (NEX-GDDP) data set. We highlight the important insights that new climate services can provide. Our climate services will help our user communities quantify the impacts of climate change to support their key decisions in planning for the future, both inside and outside the Federal Government, especially for decisions in renewable energy and in building heating and cooling.

Bradley Hegyi↗

Laser Beam Welding for in-Space Joining Demonstrated Under Vacuum on the Ground and By Parabolic Flight Experiments

High energy density electron beam welding enabled the first and, to date, only American weld performed in space during the M551 experiment on Skylab in 1973. Though welding is critical to 90% of durable goods manufacturing in America, there is not yet regular and reliable application of welding processes to the In-space Servicing, Assembly, and Manufacturing (ISAM) sector. Fundamental studies are needed to develop basic capabilities and to enhance fundamental process knowledge, which will support follow-on efforts to mature in-space welding for use in commercial, defense, and other aerospace applications. The current work seeks to build on past flights and improve understanding and quantification of materials joining in space conditions using laser beam welding (LBW). LBW offers several advantages over the electron beam welding of Skylab, amongst others: reduced electromagnetic interference, less exposure of operators to ionizing radiation, and flexible delivery through optical fibers supporting unique workpieces and joints. Since there is no orbital laboratory to mature laser beam welding for space, the current effort addresses maturation of laser beam welding through parabolic flights augmented with data collection to enable numerical modeling efforts that capture the physical effects of the space environment. This team has retrofitted an LBW experimental apparatus that can simulate the vacuum and, during a parabolic flight, the reduced gravity & microgravity conditions of in-space welding. A team of Capstone students modified the setup, originally developed by NASA Langley Research Center for electron beam free-form fabrication, to replace its electron gun with a 1 kW, 1070 nm Yb fiber laser. The apparatus was further instrumented with temperature sensing and high-speed welding cameras to monitor and record changes in the thermal state of the workpiece, the melt pool, the laser penetration level, and the development and orientation of spatter & plumes. The system will operate autonomously, demonstrating its utility to uncrewed missions. During upcoming parabolic flight campaigns expected summer 2024, this LBW equipment will weld common aerospace alloys of aluminum, stainless steel, and titanium under conditions representative of the space environment. This data will guide future computational modeling efforts of laser welding in space and help to qualify in-space welding as a viable ISAM technique.

laser beam welding↗

Parametric Modeling and Mission Performance Analysis of a True Parallel Hybrid Turboprop Aircraft for Freighter Operations

Hybrid-electric propulsion systems for short-haul, cargo carrying aircraft have emerged as promising solutions for an environmentally sustainable future for commercial aviation. The novel propulsion architecture presents significant complexity and requires the development of new methodologies to account for the unique coupling and integration between critical design variables. This paper presents a comprehensive study on the modeling, performance assessment, and design space exploration of a C-130H freighter aircraft retrofitted with a parallel hybrid electric powertrain. Details on the development of parametric models for both the baseline and true parallel hybrid (TPH) aircraft and the integrated electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) system sizing approach are presented along with detailed performance analyses of payload/range capabilities for short-haul cargo missions. For 2030, 2040, and 2050 EAP technology levels, the TPH C-130H configuration with a ~2.12 MW class EAP system has a range capability of 485-1,028 nautical miles and block fuel savings of 27-44%.

efficiency↗

Investigating Laser Beam Welding as an In-Space Joining Technique via Thermal Vacuum and Microgravity and Vacuum Experiments

In-space joining technologies are crucial for stimulating an in-space economy and for enabling sustained space exploration by in-space manufacturing and repair of metallic structures. Compared to brazing or soldering, in-space welding (ISW) can provide highly hermetic, strong, and complex joints, potentially without introducing additional material. However, the influence of extreme temperatures, reduced pressure, and reduced gravity on ISW is not yet fully elucidated. Several efforts at NASA are investigating laser beam welding (LBW) as a joining and repair method in both thermal vacuum (TVAC) and combined vacuum & reduced gravity environments. NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) shepherded several ISW projects in its past, including the 1973 electron beam welding on Skylab, the 1989 low-power LBW on parabolic flights, and the unflown 1990s-era In-Space Welding Experiment. Recent parabolic flights and 3 degree-of-freedom ground testing build upon this heritage. A collaboration with the Ohio State University using NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) hardware retrofitted for LBW achieved the first high-powered laser welds under vacuum and low gravity and developed a workforce capable developing such experimental hardware. A ground testing campaign at the MSFC Flat Floor simulated fit-up and welding representative of ISW in 3 degrees of freedom to emulate microgravity effects on inertial systems. One ongoing effort is a NASA Early Career Initiative project – Lunar Assembly and Servicing by Autonomous Robotics (LASAR). Ruggedized LBW components were developed by an external partner for use in TVAC. A TVAC-rated robotic arm was procured by MSFC and used in the first known robotic laser weld where all components save the laser generator were under vacuum. NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) is advancing supervised autonomy of ISW. NASA LaRC continues to adapt their unique snowflake joint geometry, suitable for connecting segments in trusses and other structures, to LBW. Upcoming TVAC campaigns will focus on testing extreme temperatures, proving out autonomous operations, and demonstrating weld repair. Weld inspection will occur via a non-contact nondestructive evaluation (NDE) technique – electromagnetic acoustic transduction (EMAT). Another ongoing effort based at MSFC is the DISCMAN -- DIsk-Shaped Configurable and Modular vAcuum uNit – which seeks to development a compact, modular payload that can provide a vacuum environment while in a reduced gravity condition. This payload could support multiple in-space manufacturing developmental efforts, with the first demonstration technology being LBW. Currently, the design is targeting operations in the pressurized volume of a space station, but the payload could readily be adapted to other flight platforms such as parabolic or even suborbital vehicles. LASAR elucidates the effects of temperature and vacuum on LBW while DISCMAN probes those of vacuum and gravity. Through these complementary efforts, NASA is addressing the primary challenges of ISW across the space environment while simultaneously developing and maturing technologies including robotic systems and inspection methodologies for future practical implementation on the Moon and beyond. This approach is timely, as upcoming missions requiring sustained human presence in space will depend on reliable ISW capabilities to create robust metallic joints currently unproven in the space environment and to perform repairs in situ .

hypogravity↗

ePROJECT BUILDER: PROMOTING WIDER ADOPTION OF ENERGY SAVINGS PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS THROUGH STANDARDIZATION AND TRANSPARENCY

The United States Federal Government has been conducting guaranteed savings energy savings performance contracts for over 20 years and now relies on ESPC for the majority of its energy efficiency work. Along with a related financed project type, these deals resulted in $4.2 billion of project investment in the five years ending in 2016, a pace that has even accelerated since. Measurement and verification (M&V) on the projects is the key to assuring savings realization and persistence. Perceived as a weakness or burdensome added cost in the early years of the program, M&V has become a strength. All energy conservation measures (ECMs) have some form of measurement – defined as a measured baseline establishment followed by at least one measurement of the main energy-saving parameter taken in the performance period for each ECM. The government’s in-house energy consulting office, the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP), now recommends measurement of these “Option A” M&V ECMs throughout the contract term, usually annually. Moreover, a significantly higher percentage of projects are now characterized by more ambitious M&V, including Option B (all parameter measurement) for most generation (including renewable) and some efficiency measures, and more frequent Option C (whole facility utility bill analysis) for “deep retrofit” projects with multiple, interactive ECMs. Coincident with this progress in M&V has been a much greater embracing of ESPC by the federal agencies, resulting in the enormous rate of projects now executed. This paper traces the evolution of M&V in federal ESPC and argues that the heightened credibility of the savings has contributed significantly to the procurement vehicle’s long-term viability. This focus on savings integrity via M&V has been learned over two decades for U.S. federal ESPC, but countries with developing ESPC markets would be wise to emphasize it as their markets emerge, allowing them to avoid some of the “growing pains” experienced in the U.S.

Earni, Shankar↗