August 13, 2008—Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, has signed an $89 million energy savings performance contract with Johnson Controls, Inc. to apply advanced energy conservation solutions, including a biomass gasification system, to the campus.
This project is the first signed initiative of the US Department of Energy’s Transformational Energy Action Management (TEAM) Initiative, which is an action plan to dramatically transform the DOE’s energy, environmental and transportation management. TEAM aims to meet or exceed the aggressive energy efficiency goals set forth by the federal government laid out by President Bush, fundamentally transforming the way the DOE manages energy use in its facilities.
As the project’s cornerstone, a wood gasification biomass system will take the place of the existing natural gas steam plant and steam distribution system. By using woody biomass from the region as the main energy source for the facilities, ORNL will reduce fossil fuel consumption by 80 percent. Furthermore, the biomass plant significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions equal to planting 32 million trees.
Overall, ORNL will benefit from a suite of energy efficiency solutions including the installation of a “super boiler,” advanced electric metering, energy efficient lighting, water conservation measures, compressed air cooling, comprehensive HVAC improvements and a building management system to ensure the mission critical standards are maintained, says Johnson Controls.
For more information, see the company’s Web site.
