NASA – AUDRIS

The customer

Since 1904, URS has been providing program management, design, engineering, construction and technical services to private and federal customers alike. Some of the most recent contracts have been with the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and NASA. Today, the company has nearly 60,000 employees, operates in almost 50 countries and last year had a revenue of more than 9 billion dollars. In 2008, they were awarded the Institutional Services Contract (ISC) at Kennedy Space Center. Some of the many facets of that effort include facilities operations, propellants and life support operations, logistics, laboratory management and energy management.

The challenge

Energy Management for any large-scale, industrial facility is a problematic undertaking at best. At Kennedy Space Center, that problem is compounded by the sheer size and complexity of the coverage area. At over 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, spanning 140,000 acres, it has a tremendous variety of facilities and environmental conditions. An enormous state-of-the art launch support complex, with all of the facilities required for our national space program, operates entirely within virtually pristine Florida wetlands.

The legacy method of energy management at KSC was the Energy Utilization and Consumption Report, a monthly, time-intensive document, over 200 pages long and containing almost 14,000 line items. It was cumbersome to analyze, difficult to maintain and had to be replaced, however the complexity of the project made it clear that an off-the-shelf solution would not be effective. Enter, Matrix IS.

The Matrix Innovative Solution

To address the unique, extensive requirements at KSC, Team Matrix developed the Automated Utility Database Reporting System (AUDRIS) – A secure, web-based application that provides near real-time data collection and reporting of all energy consumption at KSC. Pulling data from more than 250 electric meters at over 150 sites, AUDRIS integrates these data with that from electric and natural gas invoices, fuel, facilities, weather and contract data. The integration and presentation of that data through the web-based AUDRIS user interface, paints a clear, comprehensive picture of energy consumption and cost at the largest, most complex aerospace facility in the world.

Accessed by various user communities for cost, demand and energy conservation planning, AUDRIS has proven to be a vital, integral and highly successful part of energy management at KSC – which hasn’t gone unnoticed. In 2010 the AUDRIS implementation team, including Team Matrix, was presented with the NASA Environmental Star Award. The AUDRIS system and development team won the 2012 Best of KSC Software Award.