The federal government’s landlord is trying out a trio of innovative building technologies to see if they could be used on a larger scale.
In an April 23 release, the General Services Administration announced its Proving Ground program is looking to study three innovations and test them in GSA facilities. The program works with third parties to evaluate next-generation building technologies in government-owned buildings.
So far, 15 GPG-evaluated technologies have been implemented across 500 GSA-managed facilities. The three recently selected technologies are:
Connected Building Operating System by Prescriptive Data: Provides facility managers with a better way to manage temperature and indoor air quality. The system also offers analytics including energy, water and equipment status.
Catalyst-Based Scale Prevention for Cooling Towers from NaturalSof: Changes the chemistry of hard water to prevent calcite buildup. GSA will test the technology in chilled-water-plant cooling towers.
Direct current microgrid study: Looks at the microgrid’s impact on resiliency, operations and maintenance, and electricity savings. Among other issues, the study will evaluate how the technology could shift power consumption during higher demand.