The U.S. military can jump-start commercialization of energy innovations by serving as a test bed for new ideas, top Department of Defense officials say. Dorothy Robyn, Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment, told the Edison Foundation’s Powering the People 2.0 conference in Washington March 22 that DOD manages over 300,000 buildings – “three times as many as Walmart” – on 28 million acres. New buildings are constructed to be highly energy efficient, but many buildings are aging and planned for renovation. With so many facilities, she said, the military can try out innovations that aren’t yet commercial, and can become a large customer for ideas that produce results.