Results

The Enviro$en$e network has been created as a distributed system to relay pertinent technical P2 information to all Federal agencies and, specifically, to house an expert architecture known as the Solvent Umbrella. The Solvent Umbrella utilizes state-of-the-art electronic navigation, translation, and search tools in the Internet environment.

The Umbrella allows users to access alternative solvent information through a single, easy-to-use command structure that seamlessly accesses and retrieves information from its component databases. The Umbrella's command structure taps into databases resident on Enviro$en$e as well as remote databases linked through the Internet. The solvent Umbrella employs an architecture using decision tree programming, Internet navigation tools, TOPIC search and retrieval, and transnational programming based in part on that developed through DoD's Omniport project. The Umbrella’s search engine allows user queries to be ranked through a decision tree structure and generates weighted search results based on the user's process-specific needs.

Samples of the databases incorporated in the Umbrella include the following:

• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Solvent Alternatives Guide (SAGE);
•  Idaho National Engineering Laboratory's (INEL) Hazardous Solvent Substitution Data System (HSSDS);
•  INEL's Solvent Handbook Data System (SHDS);
• The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center's (NFESC) P2 Library ODS and Solvent Alternatives databases; and
• EPA's Enviro$en$e integrated vendor database.

Users can tap into applicable Mil-Specs, Technical Orders, National Stock Numbers, and Material Safety Data Sheets, as available. The level of information synthesis performed by the Umbrella reduces the amount of research and testing required by a user but it will not eliminate actual evaluation by the user before implementing a substitute.