NASA, Autodesk Collaborate on Sustainable Building Tech

If you want to sustain a presence in space, whether that's maintaining the International Space Station or establishing theoretical outposts on the Moon, then efficient resource utilization is a must. Anything a human might need to survive has to be brought along with them.

So it would follow that NASA has a good handle on technologies that can improve resource utilization. Why not apply those technologies here on Earth? That's just what the agency has done at its NASA Ames Sustainability Base, a 50,000-sq.-ft. office building and showcase for sustainable technologies. Now, NASA is deploying Autodesk's Project Dasher solution to research and develop new ways to monitor and optimize high-performance buildings.

The facility (which officially opened last April) already generates its own power from photovoltaics and a solid oxide fuel cell (in fact, the building generates more power than it needs), and has combined landscape design, remediated ground water, and water reclamation to reduce its potable water footprint by as much as 90% compared to similar sized buildings.

The Project Dasher system will provide interactive building management to aid in further optimization, while providing what Autodesk hopes will be a "comprehensive framework for monitoring building performance." The company is also testing the Dasher technology at its own facilities in Toronto and Waltham, MA, as well as at CammetENERGY near Montreal.

Source: Autodesk