Engineering Resilience: How Smart Infrastructure Tackles Extreme Weather

Thunderstorm in Texas in 2020. Credit: Unsplash

Changes in the Earth's climate are pushing the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events to a new high. This unprecedented scenario is already testing the resilience of existing physical infrastructure and driving organizations, governments, and businesses to look for technologies and solutions that reduce the effects of extreme weather events and facilitate recovery when floods, heatwaves, heavy rains, cyclones, droughts, and wildfires occur.

On March 6, the GFCC, in partnership with Lockheed Martin, presented Building Resilient Physical Infrastructure in the Age of Extreme Weather Events, the second webinar in the series Resilient Infrastructure for the Future.

On this occasion, Ben-Paul Gilmore, Fellow at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, and Sebastian Pfautsch, Professor of Urban Planning and Management at Western Sydney University, discussed two distinct cases of innovative design systems that helped reduce the impacts of extreme weather conditions and improve the usage and efficiency of natural resources in the U.S. and Australia.

Mr. Gilmore is the Principal Engineer of Infrastructure Systems at Air Force Plant 4, operated by Lockheed Martin since 1993 in Fort Worth, Texas. He was behind the design and implementation of an advanced and interconnected control system for managing heating, cooling, air, and data operations that runs on the plant's over 130 buildings. He also oversees the energy management control system that integrates all systems together.

During the webinar, he shared the story of how this automation and control technology was used to maintain the plant's operations and prevent material freezing even when temperatures dropped well below the design level during a major winter storm.

Whereas Prof. Pfautsch researches and develops solutions to improve the livability of urban areas considering the ongoing impacts of climate change. He runs a project called SIMPaCT (Smart Irrigation Management for Parks and Cool Towns) in Sydney, Australia, which uses technology to build green infrastructure that fights urban overheating.

Storm Yuri: Texas Power Crisis

In February 2021, a major winter storm called Yuri hit the U.S., affecting Texas in particular. Close to 69% of the state lost power at some point between February 14th and February 20th, and financial damage reached over $26 billion.

During this extreme weather condition, a major crash on an interstate road involving over 130 vehicles happened, preventing insurance contractors from supplying gas and Lockheed Martin's staff at Air Force Plant 4 from getting to work.

Due to this unprecedented situation, Air Force Plant 4 was forced to shut down production for the first time since 1942. This decision aimed to keep doors closed to contain as much heat as possible inside buildings and avoid sprinkler and fire protection systems from freezing.

Since all buildings were fully submetered, Mr. Gilmore's team was able to maintain the plant operational using an integrated infrastructure control system that manages resources and minimizes water, steam, and natural gas usage, keeping the majority of systems safe.

During this critical period, the cost of eletricity reached exorbitant levels, rising from the usual $30–$40 per megawatt-hour to $9,600 per megawatt-hour at peak consumption. By strategically reducing electrical demand, Lockheed Martin not only avoided these exorbitant costs but also sold excess electricity back to the grid at the peak rate. Over a six-day period, this strategy resulted in $4.5 million in revenue from energy sales (which was later deduced from a penalty fee enacted by the utility provider through a "force majeure" clause).

This technological solution, that was originally designed to enhance operational efficiency, enabled significant reductions in the consumption of resources such as water, energy, and gases over the years. Moreover, as the recent storm event demonstrated, it has proven to be crucial for the resilience of facilities and infrastructure during periods of extreme stress, underscoring its strategic role in both sustainability and system robustness.

"This example showcases what you can do when you have a highly integrated infrastructure control system. The plant was basically run by one engineer and two operators for that entire week, that's all we had. I can't imagine what it would have been like if we didn't have the controls," says Mr. Gilmore.

Green Infrastructure in Parklands

Urban heat islands, the compounded effect of global warming and urban densification, has been affecting cities across the globe. In a summer day, temperature in Sydney, home to over 6 million people, can reach up to 52 degrees Celsius.

Thinking of ways to reduce the urban heat island effect, the Urban Transformation Research Center, where Professor Pfautsch works, created a smart irrigation system powered by AI. The initiative called SIMPaCT combines multiple technologies, including machine learning, digital twins, and smart technologies and sensors to irrigate parklands and cool down the city by turning the area into a "natural air conditioning system", in his words.

Installing SIMPaCT sensors in Sydney. Credit: SIMPaCT blog page

Over 300 sensors supplying data to this integrated irrigation system were installed in Bicentennial Park in Sydney. The results are impressive: temperatures dropped by up to 3.5 degrees Celsius during the day and up to 7 degrees at night, according to research conducted by the university.

In addition to air cooling, SIMPaCT technologies also saved up to 70% irrigation water, which in dry summers represents an important saving that can be used for irrigating more urban green infrastructure to further amplify cooling.

These two cases show that despite increasing risks of extreme weather events due to climate change, investing in resilient physical infrastructure through smart technologies and engineering can help mitigate the impacts of these disruptive scenarios.