Sustainable NASA Future Infrastructure 50 th R. H. Goddard Memorial Symposium Dreams and Possibilities: Planning for the Achievable Olga Dominguez Assistant Administrator Office of Strategic Infrastructure March 2012

The Earth is a Closed Loop System with many sub-systems; there is no “away” 2

Many sub-systems -– atmosphere, land, oceans, snow, urban landscape, etc -– affect daily weather and longer-term climate. That is why predicting weather and modeling climate change are very complicated – all of these systems have many inputs and outputs. Source: IPCC, Earth Sub-Systems Human Infrastructure is one of the subsystems

4 NASA Context People housed: 64,000 Constructed assets stewarded: $30.8B (FY11) Land stewarded: 513 mi 2

NASA’s Infrastructure Risks 9. material availability and obsolescence 1. aging infrastructure 2. increasing energy cost 3. greenhouse gas management 8. encroachment – neighbors need water, energy, safety, resources… 7. environmental cleanup – Apollo Era 6. mandates without added resources 5. changing laws and requirements 4. climate change impacts and adaptation These create a Challenge and an Opportunity to Support Mission - Sustainable Processes, Construction, Operations and Methods Drive and Create Innovation 5

Share of NASA facilities assets under 40 years old As asset ages rise and requirements evolve, NASA must renew the assets our programs need Key Challenge: Facility Suitability 6

For NASA’s infrastructure to succeed in support of NASA missions, we need a slight shift from what we are doing now we need to Integrate data, requirements, future potential alternatives, and sustainable practices and apply these requirements to our institutional risks. Adapting to the current needs while creating a resilient future NASA - adjusting our designs and management practices (within our existing NASA processes) to mitigate mission risk and create opportunity. Integrating Sustainability Infrastructure & Mission 7

8 Infuse Sustainable Thinking Into The Iron Triangle Cost PerformanceSchedule Cost Risk: -Material scarcity -Rare earths -Market pressures -Energy costs Schedule Risks: -Material qualification -Environmental compliance requirements -Waiver processing Performance Risk: -Lack of material pedigree -Operational uncertainty -System failures Mitigation of Cost, Schedule and Performance Risks Through Implementation of Sustainable Principles Considering System Life Cycle Cost

Vision for a Sustainable NASA Move beyond compliance – identifying opportunities that meet intent provides long-term benefits Effective and efficient use of resources in operations to eliminate or minimize waste and carbon emissions Supply chains work with NASA’s contractors to set standards and achieve sustainable goals with a secure supply chain Facilities & Infrastructure use new designs and management principles that reduce operational risks and cost (hoteling, teleworking, net-zero, green roofs, day lighting….) Green chemistry/engineering/materials management… integrated into the design of NASA’s facilities, infrastructure, and Programs & Projects - including operations and hardware Integrating Sustainability into what we do 9