The Science & Technology Facility at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, Colo., was designed to accelerate development and commercialization of promising new renewable energy sources. It is a space that stimulates communication between its myriad scientists as they try to resolve complex R&D issues confronting the next generation of solar technologies. It does this in a facility that can be easily reconfigured to meet changing research requirements.

From the outset, the building was envisioned as an exemplary Laboratory for the 21st Century, one that provided safe, functional, inspiring work areas while achieving aggressive energy savings and low environmental impact. As such, the Science & Technology Facility was the first federal building, and the first laboratory, to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum designation as one of the world’s most energy efficient and environmentally friendly buildings.

For its flexibility and sustainability, the NREL Science & Technology Facility has been awarded the 2008 R&D Magazine Laboratory of the Year Special Mention Award.
 

Underlying themes

The Science & Technology facility was built on the idea that safety, functionality, and energy efficiency could be integrated effectively into the design of a research space that could be easily adapted to meet changing research requirements.

Architects juxtaposed three distinct shapes—a two-story rectangular laboratory area, a conical lobby, and a one-story, rectangular office pod separated from the laboratory block by a triangular wedge—to form a unique footprint.

The shapes provide functional separation as well as the opportunity to achieve safety and energy efficiency goals and make a statement about the research conducted inside. The separation of office space from the laboratories allowed the architects to design a collegial office space that fosters greater interaction among scientists.

“The layout of the overall facility allows ‘nodes’ of interaction at crossing points between programs and disciplines in the plan,” says Jeffrey Zynda, Associate at Payette Associates, Inc., Boston, Mass., and Lab of the Year judge. “The organization of the facility was quite clear and well executed.”
 

Flexible spaces

The centerpiece of the Science & Technology Facility is the Process Development and Integration Laboratory (PDIL). It is a 56 ft x 200 ft column-free space that features six large open bays, each of which can support one or more reconfigurable research platforms.

Each platform consists of a series of interchangeable deposition, processing, and characterization modules that can be flexibly configured to meet current research needs. At any given time, the PDIL can accommodate multiple industry partners working side-by-side with NREL researchers on different research problems.

The Science & Technology Facility’s other laboratory spaces were designed around a common module. Labs are large and open, flanking spine-like central service corridors which carry utilities, services, and materials to the back of each laboratory.

Utility “runouts” are available at 20-foot intervals. Standardized ceiling-mounted utility drops are strategically placed at regular intervals to allow tools to be easily relocated and reconfigured without costly changes.

In addition, appropriately spaced prepared openings in the service corridor wall, combined with “notched” alcoves in the service corridor make it easy to interchange support equipment in the labs. A unique in-floor trench allows support equipment to be connected to tools inside the labs.

“The flexible nature of the labs will allow individual needs to be met on a lab-by-lab basis, and I believe this facility will be well-received by the researchers within,” says Zynda.

“Interior design offers a high degree of flexibility in addition to being cost effective for a lab of this type,” agrees Jim Contratto, director of business development at McCarthy Building Co., St.Louis, Mo., and another Lab of the Year judge. “Mobile casework and overhead service carriers allow for maximum flexibility which should give researchers the ability to reconfigure the lab to individual needs.”
 

Energy efficiency and sustainability reflect the research

With the goal of building a showcase facility that embodies the mission of NREL, architects designed the Science & Technology Facility to be a model of energy efficiency and sustainability that minimally impacts the environment.

To reduce energy consumption, the facility incorporates passive solar building design with efficient mechanical systems and laboratory equipment .

The daylighting concept for the facility was to provide the optimum amount of balanced natural light for each of the functional components—offices and laboratories. Not only does natural lighting offset the need for energy-consuming electric lighting, numerous studies have linked natural daylighting in buildings to increased human performance.

At times when natural light must be supplemented with electrc lighting, efficient fluorescent light fixtures bounce light off the ceiling for greater dispersal. Sophisticated automated lighting controls monitor the level of natural light and human presence and dim or turn off electric lights to reduce energy use.

Choosing energy efficient operating systems was key to major energy reductions in the Science & Technology Facility. Some of the systems include:

• Variable-air-volume supply and exhaust systems produce energy savings by allowing supply air volumes to vary with equipment cooling requirements and fume hood operations.

• Fan coil units provide heating and cooling directly to laboratory spaces, nearly eliminating the need for inefficient heating systems. Fan coils allow the ventilation system to supply only the tempered air required for minimum ventilation and makeup air for exhaust devices.

• Energy recovery: a runaround coil system with an estimated 63% sensible effectiveness reduces the heating and cooling requirements associated with conditioning ventilation air in labs. The system recovers energy from exhaust air to precondition supply air and uses waste heat from the process water loop to preheat ventilation air.

• Efficient heating and cooling strategies include a high-efficiency condensing boiler and variable-speed chiller, indirect evaporative cooling, and a heat exchanger that allows cooling water to bypass chillers and be cooled directly by the cooling tower.

• Low-flow chemical fume hoods and laminar flow hoods are operated at the lowest safe face velocity level to minimize room air turbulence and reduce energy consumption.

Sustainability is an important part of NREL’s vision for its campus. Not only are buildings expected to use less energy, they are expected to have a low carbon footprint during construction and operation. The Science & Technology Facility exemplifies this philosophy.

In constructing the facility, M.A. Mortenson recycled more than 80% of the construction waste by weight. 11% of the building materials were from recycled materials, and 27% of the construction materials were manufactured within 500 miles of the building site, minimizing impact on land and air quality by reducing the amount of waste to landfills and vehicle emissions from transporting materials.

Operationally, in addition to lowering conventional energy consumption, steps were taken to mitigate the impact of exhaust emissions on sensitive ecology, and water management strategies were adopted. Water efficiencies included constructing a storm water detention system around the building that naturally filters pollutants and encourages slow percolation and retention of runoff water flowing into existing arroyos. Cooling tower operating cycles were lowered to reduce makeup water requirements. Low-water consuming fixtures such as ultra-low flow urinals also reduce water needs.

Setting the standard for the future