NREL’s second LEED Platinum building is a replicable model of energy efficient commercial office design
WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 1, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — The Research Support Facility (RSF) located on the campus of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been certified LEED® Platinum for New Construction by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit organization dedicated to sustainable building design and construction.
At 222,000 square-feet, the RSF is a model for sustainable, high performance building design that leverages the best in energy efficiency and environmental performance in a large-scale commercial office building.
“NREL is proving how our research on energy efficiency, commercial building technology, and renewable energy can be translated to today’s commercial properties at a cost-competitive rate,” NREL Deputy Lab Director Bill Glover said.
With 19 percent of the energy in the United States consumed by commercial buildings, a DOE goal for the RSF project is to help change the way commercial office buildings are designed and built in the United States. NREL, through the Advanced Commercial Buildings Research team developed strategies and techniques to reduce energy use in commercial buildings that were incorporated in the design of the RSF. NREL researchers are monitoring and documenting the energy performance of the RSF and sharing those results with industry to show how achievable ultra-energy efficient buildings are today.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is the preeminent program for rating the design, construction and operation of green buildings.The RSF project achieved all 59 targeted LEED points, including those for site selection, energy, materials and resources, and innovation. This is the highest score of the 10 U.S. federal facilities that have earned the LEED Platinum rating for new construction. RSF also had a perfect score in the energy category, achieving all 17 points.
Demonstrating NREL’s commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency, the RSF is the second facility at NREL to achieve this designation. In 2007, NREL’s Science and Technology Facility was the first federal facility in the nation to be certified LEED Platinum.
NREL is the Department of Energy’s primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is operated for DOE by The Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC.
###
Visit NREL online at www.nrel.gov
For further information contact NREL Public Relations at 303-275-4090.
