Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling's (JBAB) public works department installed several new sensors for air conditioning units around the base during the month of April.

The project is part of a yearlong base study to determine the cost savings a new air conditioning system could create.

The base is the first of two military installations in the U.S. to test the COOLNOMIX air conditioning system as part of the 2014 Environmental Security Technologies Demonstration Program. The other is Fort Bliss in Texas.

COOLNOMIX technology uses two temperature sensors in an algorithmic energy trading control arrangement to monitor the thermodynamic (room or space temperature) and the hydraulic (refrigerant supply) performance of the connected air conditioning, heating or refrigeration system, according to their website.

Tim Min, JBAB's installation energy manager, described the process for the ESTDP and how the projects are chosen.

"Every year they have proposals and only a few get selected," Min said. "They were selected in September of 2014, and now we're getting to the project and starting it up."

The system reduces the temperature range of air conditioning sensors to .5 degrees Celsius [32.9 degrees Fahrenheit], keeping the equipment from working harder to correct large temperature disparities, he said.

Teams overseeing the process will use the system through each of the cooling and heating seasons, turning the system off for half of the season to measure the cost differences and evaluate the program's savings.

After the year is over the team will provide the findings to the ESTDP board and the decision will be made whether or not to install these systems around all of the stateside military installations.

Min also explained the ways this new technology could make older equipment as efficient as newer models without having to replace it, saving money on upgrades.

"These older AC units are usually oversized," Min said. "You don't want them to be too big, because they're less efficient that way. The best thing is to keep the machine running and not having to start and stop constantly to maintain temperatures. The longer it's running the more efficient the machine is, and that also means a lot less wear and tear on the equipment."

Min also elaborated on the importance of the Navy's Great Green Fleet program and projects like this.

"Although this project was initiated before GGF, it shares a similar goal, which is transforming the Navy's energy use by incorporating energy efficient systems, operational procedures and alternative fuels world wide," he said.

For more information on other energy conservation projects around the Navy, visit http://greenfleet.dodlive.mil/energy/great-green-fleet/.

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For more news from Naval District Washington, visit http://www.navy.mil/.