Case Study: Helping the Army Advance Master Planning using Smart City Technologies
(Photo Credit: DVIDS)
About
US Ignite, along with Grant Thornton and the US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center (USACE-ERDC), completed a study of how different Smart City technologies could be helpful to military master planners. Military installations rely on master planners to manage their real property portfolio, control energy costs, and drive capital investment decisions. To do this well, master planners need information about the facilities – like when they are being used and how frequently they are utilized. This case study reveals the findings on each technology and offers prototypes and design examples based on the recommendations.
The surveyed technologies include:
- IoT Networks
- Cellular Networks
- Mobile Location Data Aggregators
Impact
The business case analysis estimated that through decisions made using the information in the developed dashboards, the Army could:
- Improve the workspace allocation of 100,000 – 1.7M servicemembers;
- Save up to a million hours in personal travel time and workplace absenteeism per year;
- Realize $100,000 – $2M per year in avoided annual operation and maintenance costs during Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC); and
- Save $100,000 – $150,000 in annual energy costs through footprint consolidation.
- Visualize and mitigate impact of operations as aligned against climate events
US Ignite and Grant Thornton’s investigation into modern building occupancy data sources and prototype development has created a resource trove for future master planning modernization efforts. Additionally, the findings encountered in this could inform future decisions to expand this capability across the Army enterprise.
