Buildings are made up of many interconnected systems, and when one of them fails it may lead to unforeseen consequences. For example,60% of commercial buildings in New York City were without power for at least 60 days after Superstorm Sandy hit.. Had these buildings installed and properly maintained backup generators before the storm, businesses could have avoided power outages that result in the loss of business and, ultimately, revenue.

This section will outline the various building systems you should check on a periodic basis to ensure that your building is prepared for the next severe weather event or cyberattack. There are various technologies and strategies that you can implement to make your building or buildings more resilient. If your building employs any of the following technologies, be sure to check them regularly. Otherwise, these strategies can be used to protect your buildings from cyberattacks and severe weather events:

Microgrids are essentially miniature versions of the electric grid that include localized generation and storage. Localized and increasingly clean generation allows microgrids to provide power to campuses and small communities independent of the central macrogrid. Communities and campuses with microgrids can keep businesses open and keep the lights on while first responders work to restore power.

Where a microgrid exists, loads are typically also connected to a traditional centralized grid. When the microgrid senses an outage, it disconnects from the central grid and uses its own generation and storage capabilities to serve the local electrical load.

Most existing buildings are not connected to a microgrid. Certain campuses – academic campuses, corporate campuses, data centers, and other groups of buildings with a need for highly reliable power – have already installed microgrids, but the opportunity for widespread deployment of microgrid technologies has yet to be realized.

To find out if your building is already connected to a microgrid, ask your building engineer or call your local electric utility. If you’re interested in finding out more about how to connect your building to a microgrid to reap the reliability and power quality benefits, skip ahead to Step Two: Identify and Implement Resilient Technologies.

…… not just during power outages, but all the time ………

For most facilities with the need to maintain power throughout every type of grid disruption, the use of various energy sources should be considered. Placing generation mechanisms closer to loads eliminates line losses associated with long-distance power transmission. Additionally, interferences in power lines will no longer affect the availability of power.

Taking advantage of distributed generation allows you to more easily incorporate renewable resources into your power scheme. Wind turbines, solar panels, and micro-turbines can all be used to supplement the power supply to a building or campus. In some jurisdictions, utilities will even buy a surplus of energy from customers that have generated more energy than they have used.

When the grid loses power, these distributed energy resources can pick up the burden to provide you with uninterrupted power. Coupled with back-up generation, distributed resources are one of the best approaches for protecting your systems from grid failures.

To assess whether or not your facility is connected to distributed generation resources, talk to your building engineer or your local electric utility. If you would like to learn more about installing distributed generation resources, skip to Step Two: Identify and Implement Resilient Technologies.

For critical equipment, cabling should be used that is resistant to long-term submersion in water, as well as oil and other pollutants potentially present in flood waters that may have an effect on less robust insulation materials. Conduit installations, which provide mechanical protection and adaptability to future system changes, should include wet location conductors in areas that might be exposed to potential water damage. Additionally, steel conduit can be used for EMF/EMI shielding.

In addition, there are classes of transformers, switches, and enclosures that are designed to be submersible. Initial equipment installation can be more expensive than non-submersible equipment, but can pay for itself in subway systems and substation environments that are susceptible to flooding.

To find out if your building’s wire, conduit, cable, and other electrical components are potentially susceptible to water damage, you should start by identifying 1) if you have critical electrical systems located below grade, and 2) if your building is at risk of flood visit the FEMA Flood Map Service Center to identify flood plains. If your building is at risk of flooding, skip to Step Two: Identify and Implement Resilient Technologies to find out how to upgrade your building’s wire and cabling to improve its resiliency.
The information in this section has been adapted from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association report, Storm Reconstruction: Rebuild Smart, Reduce Outages, Save Lives, Protect Property.

Step Two