14 Jan 2026

Fiscal Year 24 Sustainable Design and Development Support Order: Identifying Building Electrification and Decarbonization Opportunities for Army Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Projects

Abstract: In fiscal year 2024, the Army advanced its strategic goals for resilient and sustainable building design, certifying 12 new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects and reaching a total of 899 LEED-certified projects since 2006. Key findings of this report reflect the Army’s alignment with updated LEED prerequisites, including increased energy performance standards and new green-house gas emissions metrics. The ongoing challenges in decarbonization and electrification, including increased construction costs and maintenance uncertainties, underscore the need for early integrative planning and improved data collection. The report highlights the best practices and technology solutions that are critical for reducing carbon footprints and enhancing operational resilience for the purpose of closing implementation gaps in complying with new policy, such as the Department of the Army Policy Guidance on Resilient Buildings released 27 March 2024 and the 29 March 2023 DoD memorandum on Electrification of Standard Building Operations. The report also emphasizes the importance of early LEED documentation to improve certification outcomes. With the upcoming LEED v5 release and evolving Army policies, this year’s progress sets a strong foundation for further implementation of electrification and sustainability efforts in alignment with Army resiliency goals.

7 Jan 2026

Evaluation of Seven Bridges at Fort Hunter Liggett, California, for Eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places

Abstract: The US Congress codified the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), the nation’s most effective cultural resources legislation to date, mostly through establishing the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NHPA requires federal agencies to address their cultural re-sources, which are defined as any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object. Section 110 of the NHPA requires federal agencies to inventory and evaluate their cultural resources, and Section 106 requires them to determine the effect of federal undertakings on those potentially eligible for the NRHP. Fort Hunter Liggett is in central California, within Monterey County. It was first established as the Hunter Liggett Military Reservation in 1941. The post was renamed Fort Hunter Liggett in 1975. This report provides a determination of eligibility for the NRHP for seven properties (Bridges 749, 750, 753, 760, 767, 779, and 781) constructed between 1965 and 2010 and recommends that none are eligible under the NRHP and the California Register of Historic Resources (CRHR) criteria.

29 Dec 2025

Fort Phantom Power System Analysis-Case Studies for Notional Power Resource Mixes and Energy Storage : Results Produced Using the Analysis of Microgrid Performance, Reliability, and Resilience (AMPeRRe) Computational Model

Abstract: Analysis of Microgrid Performance, Reliability, and Resilience (AMPeRRe) is a computational model that provides quantitative results to installations and remote communities that inform them of the objectives they can achieve. Results provided by this model lead to reliable intermittent power resource implementation, optimize the set of resources within a power system, and improve reliability and resiliency outcomes. This technical report provides an example of the analysis results AMPeR-Re can produce to quantify the expected benefits and trade-offs of incorporating different power resources and energy storage in a power system. Fort Phantom, a notional installation, was used as the testbed to produce these results. The AMPeRRe model forecasts outcomes such as the power availability, fuel consumption, duty cycle, and excess energy of different power resource investment scenarios. The results produced by this model are based on notional stages of development for the Fort Phantom Consolidated Maintenance Activity (CMA) power system. This technical re-port also pro-vides an expanded set of results and comparison of outcomes from different quantities of incorporated power resources. These results can aid business case development for power systems and enable efficient, informed development.

4 Nov 2025

Preliminary Evaluation of Selected Expeditionary Shelter Systems in a Subarctic Environment: Phases I and II of Cold Weather Testing

Abstract: The warming of high latitude regions is causing geopolitical concerns and spurring increased human presence across the Arctic. Potentially, these situations require only a short-term occupation necessitating tested and developed expedient infrastructure. Operating requirements for high latitude conditions are vastly divergent from temperate locations. Shelters must be able to provide habitable conditions at temperature down to −60°F, withstand 100 mph wind speeds, and support 25 lb/ft2 of snow load. Although great advances have been made in providing efficient and comfortable Arctic infrastructure since the onset of the Cold War, significant work remains to further increase efficiencies and adapt to changing weather parameters. To address infrastructure technology gaps, the US Army Corps of Engineers–Engineering Research and Development Center (USACE-ERDC) established the Arctic Infrastructure Research Group (AIRG). Over two phases of investigation, the AIRG evaluated three selected expeditionary shelter systems at its Arctic Infrastructure Research Center (AIRC) in Fairbanks, Alaska during the winters of 2020–2021 (Phase I) and 2021–2022 (Phase II).

20 Oct 2025

Tensile Strength of Native Boreal Forest Plant Species

Abstract: Plant roots influence the engineering properties of soil, such as erodibility and strength. Plant roots’ contribution to soil shear strength is of particular importance in Arctic and subarctic environments where the shallow subsurface experiences a decrease in shear strength due to permafrost thaw, subsidence, and wildfires. This paper presents the testing method, sample collection and specimen preparation, and tensile strength testing results for laboratory- and greenhouse-grown boreal forest plants to compare root tensile strengths among plant species and functional groups, including deciduous shrubs and trees, evergreen trees, forbs, graminoids, and grasses using a universal testing machine and a modified triaxial device. The results illustrate that root tensile strength increases as root diameter decreases (as a power function). The root diameters successfully tested ranged from 0.063 mm (grasses) to 8.72 mm (deciduous shrubs) across all functional groups. When compared across functional groups and root diameters for each species, grass roots exhibited the highest tensile strength for root diameters less than 0.8 mm, deciduous tree roots displayed the largest tensile strength for root diameters greater than 0.8 mm, and forbs were consistently the weakest, supporting the conclusion that a diverse spread of functional groups is most effective for slope stabilization.

2 Oct 2025

Innovative Existing Building Commissioning (EBCx) Assessment Training Tools

Abstract: In an effort to develop active and engaging online training experiences that effectively simulate hands-on lessons and provide an experience equivalent to on-site visits, researchers at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) developed a series of immersive web-based training tools that support virtual learning. This report discusses the role of active learning, the need for advanced training tools, and describes the CERL effort to develop training tools. It also provides feedback on the experiences and effectiveness of various platforms that were used to develop these tools.

1 Oct 2025

US Army Water Reuse: 2023 Survey of Wastewater Reuse at US Army Installations

Abstract: The US Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (USACE ERDC-CERL), partnered with the US Army Material Command (HQAMC G4) to collect information on water use and wastewater to understand water re-use at the installation level by distributing a water reuse questionnaire. From May to September 2023, ERDC-CERL compiled the 98 responses received from all Army installations and established the following baseline data for water reuse: the US Army produces 35.9 million gallons per day (MGD) of effluent, 30.4 MGD of which receives a minimum of secondary treatment making it potentially eligible for reuse, however the US Army currently only reuses 4.51 MGD. Current reuse practices save the Army up-wards of $751,849 every month in potable water cost offsets; however, the Army could potentially save approximately $4.3 million every month if they expanded their water reuse to its current full capacity (including re-use of effluent receiving secondary or tertiary treatment). This project will be foundational for continual studies of water reuse in the Army. It will aid in creating installation energy and water plans (IEWPs), in developing a proposed geospatial dashboard tool, and in further water reuse projects with other Department of Defense departments.

23 Sep 2025

Topology Optimization for 3D Printing-Driven Anisotropic Components Accounting for Stress and Displacement Constraints

Abstract: Concrete 3D printing produces a layered macrostructure with different properties in three orthogonal directions, while new techniques allow printing at different orientations. Can printing with spatially variable layer-to-layer interface orientations produce lighter structures while stress and displacement limits are met? This study establishes the connection between experimentally measured properties of printed concrete samples and parameters of orthotropic elasticity and orthotropic yielding. Building upon this connection, a topology optimization framework is built that minimizes weight with respect to the material distribution and spatially variable layer orientation, while simultaneously addressing stress and displacement constraints. This framework is implemented via the Augmented Lagrangian approach and the Method of Moving Asymptotes, and sensitivities are calculated using the adjoint method to reduce computational cost. To expedite convergence without constraint violations, the concept of offset tolerances is introduced and by introducing a cubic term in the displacement constraints accelerating it at large constraint violations and introducing a density-weighted change norm for the orientation angles to eliminate the effect of inconsequential orientation variations in regions of negligible density. This framework enables investigation of fixed vs. variable orientation, tension-compression asymmetry vs. symmetry in achieving low weights, and the relative effect of stress vs. displacement constraints in minimizing weight.

23 Sep 2025

Loch Raven Veterans Administration Medical Center: Historic Context and National Register Evaluation

Abstract: This project was undertaken to provide the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Construction and Facilities Management Office, with a National Historic Preservation Act, Section 110, evaluation of the Loch Raven Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center. The approximately 14.85-acre medical center is located in Baltimore, Maryland. The Construction and Facilities Management Office tasked the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) with inventorying and assessing the Loch Raven VA Medical Center for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places through the creation of a historic context, a description of current conditions, and an analysis of those elements using the appropriate National Register bulletins. The authors recommend that the Loch Raven VA Medical Center not be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places due to a lack of architectural and landscape integrity of the complex; however, it is recommended that Building 1 be reevaluated for the National Register when it turns 50 years of age in 2046.

17 Sep 2025

Spring House, 666 Front Street, Lahaina, Hawaiʻi: Historic American Buildings Surveys HI-676

Abstract: The US Congress codified the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA), the nation’s most effective cultural resources legislation to date, mostly through establishing the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The NHPA requires federal agencies to address their cultural resources, which are defined as any prehistoric or historic district, site, building, structure, or object. Section 110 of the NHPA requires federal agencies to inventory and evaluate their cultural resources, and Section 106 requires them to determine the effect of federal undertakings on those potentially eligible for the NRHP. Lahaina is located in the western part of Maui County, in Hawaiʻi. The Spring House, erected circa 1823, is currently scheduled for demolition due to its major fire damages. This report documents the building to the standards of the Historic American Buildings Survey and includes a historic context, architectural descriptions, photographs, and measured drawings. This report satisfies Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 as amended and will be used by FEMA to document the building before its demolition.