November 16, 2007—The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently broke ground for a highly efficient, “green” Research Support Facility, and announced two major renewable power projects at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
DOE says the facility promises to be one of the greenest buildings ever constructed. The new Renewable Fuel Heating Plant will use biomass to cut NREL’s future natural gas use by 75 percent; and the Mesa Top PV Project will help power the lab’s main campus.
NREL’s 210,000 square-foot Research Support Facility is designed to be a model for sustainable, high-performance design, and will provide DOE-owned work space for administrative staff who currently occupy leased space. It will make substantial use of daylighting, and has been designed to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design) Platinum designation, the highest level awarded by the US Green Building Council.
NREL’s Renewable Fuel Heating Plant will provide heat to the RSF and other research buildings on NREL’s South Table Mountain campus by using biomass such as wood chips from forest thinning along Colorado’s Front Range. This plant will be constructed adjacent to the existing Field Test Laboratory Building, and will operate in conjunction with an existing natural gas-fueled boiler system. Under an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC), third-party provider Ameresco Energy Services Co. will pay for construction of the project and be repaid with NREL’s energy cost savings.
The Mesa Top PV Project will be located near the NREL Solar Radiation Research Laboratory, and will produce an estimated 750kW of clean, renewable electric power from solar energy, which will be used on site. This five-acre span of solar panels could provide up to seven percent of the electricity NREL uses. SunEdison will develop the solar energy system, and in turn, receive federal tax credits, along with revenues from both the sale of electricity to DOE and Xcel Energy’s purchase of the Renewable Energy Credits associated with the generation. DOE will purchase that power on behalf of NREL at a price equal to what it currently pays for electricity from Xcel Energy.
