IQ Summer 2011: The Federal Issue - (Page 32)

CASE STUDY// The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Research Support Facility in Golden, Colo. is a model of workplace energy efficiency. A Model of Efficiency NREL’S COLORADO RESEARCH SUPPORT FACILITY SHEDS NEW LIGHT ON SUSTAINABILITY IN THE WORKPLACE. By Paula Andruss WHEN THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY (DOE) set out to design and construct a highly energy-efficient office building near its Golden, Colo., field office, its goal was to not only set a national standard for the cost-effective, sustainable workplace of the future, but also to help others learn how to achieve it themselves. “We wanted to produce the best building we could, but our job as the DOE is to change the way people design and construct buildings for the future,” says Jeff Baker, director of the office of laboratory operations for the DOE’s Golden, Colo., field office. “With 19 percent of our country’s energy consumed in commercial buildings, it’s up to us as the DOE to try to reduce that consumption to the best energy-efficient practice that we can get.” To achieve that goal, the organization turned to a design-build contract that resulted in the 220,000-square foot National Renewable Energy Laboratory (N REL) Research Support Facility (RSF) in Golden, which opened last June. Designed to hold 800 occupants, the RSF is a model of workplace energy efficiency that employed innovative construction and a highly collaborative project approach to not only showcase sustainability in the workplace, but also change the way commercial office buildings are designed and built. While planning the RSF, the DOE developed a number of sustainability objectives including a LEED® Platinum rating, net-zero energy (meaning it generates as much energy as it uses) and energy use of 25,000 BTUs per square foot per year, an aggressive goal that exceeds the industry standard by 50 percent. Because the goals were so aggressive, officials knew they had to look for a new approach to building commercial office space. They had heard about design-build, so they turned to experts to explore its potential. 32 summer//2011 the quarterly publication of the design-build institute of america Photos by Frank Ooms, courtesy of RNL Design

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IQ Summer 2011: The Federal Issue

IQ Summer 2011: The Federal Issue