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Poly Urethane Foam Insulation of tents by us Defense

Posted by ro glo on October 9, 2012 at 10:15 AM

Department of Defense

Closed-cell, spray-applied polyurethane foam is helping to make life more comfortable for American armed forces personnel serving overseas.

The men and women serving their country in Iraq and Afghanistan are working and living in some of the most extreme climates on the planet. Temperatures can drop below freezing or climb up over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Sand storms create dust clouds in the desert.

"On a lot of our forward operating bases in Iraq and Afghanistan and other locations—the tents aren't insulated at all. We applied two inches of the spray polyurethane foam on the outside, put an acrylic coating on it to protect it from UV and it worked like a charm," says John M. Spiller, Project Manager in Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) Power Surety Task Force (PSTF).

The PSTF is a small organization within the Department of Defense with a charter to investigate a wide variety of energy reduction and alternative energy solutions. PSTF provides advice and guidance to others in the OSD and the military services that are looking at energy reduction projects and policies. The military has awarded a $95 million competitive contract in Iraq and a $29 million competitive contract in Afghanistan to convert more tents into what the PSTF refers to as Enduring Energy Efficient Structures, although it should be noted that applying SPF to structures like tents is not covered under U.S. building codes so the practice is not allowed in the United States.


According to an article in the Washington Post on April 13, 2009, the Department of Defense spent $18 billion on energy in 2008, making it the largest consumer of energy in the United States. The article also reported that about half of the U.S. military casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan are related to attacks with improvised explosive devices on convoys, many of which are carrying fuel.

"It started when a couple of us were brainstorming how to get fuel trucks out of the convoys and off the road. Now we've done the energy surveys. We're turning off three out of every four air conditioners and that allows us to turn off fossil fuel generators. All of our power overseas is furnished by fossil fuel generators. A lot of the time, in those areas, commercial grids are not available or they're intermittent. And you also don't want to be competing with the local population for their resources," says Spiller.

"As long as we're keeping a U.S. presence over there, this makes sense. You're providing Soldiers with a more comfortable place to sleep and work. There's less dust and less noise. That means they're better rested before they go out on a combat patrol, and there's also the potential to take more fuel trucks off the road as the practice of spraying the tents becomes more widespread. It's been very, very successful," Spiller reports

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