News From the D.C. Office: E x p a n s i o n

With a growing amount of project support work and increasing contacts with our Washington-based clients, the Environmental Energy Technologies Division (EETD) Washington Project Office is preparing for an expansion this spring. Two years after the office opened, we are making plans to more than double our present space and add a second meeting room, as well as additional demonstrations of efficient lighting, daylighting, and office technologies. The expanded space will be located either on a different floor of our current building at 1250 Maryland Ave. SW or in another building equally close to DOE headquarters.

The Project office was established in Spring 1993 to enhance the Division's capabilities and performance by:

• Maintaining close contact with DOE and other Washington-based clients to help us better understand their needs and desires and transmit this information to E&E researchers and management.
• Working to help LBL staff design and manage projects that respond effectively to our clients--often in close cooperation with other labs.
• Participating directly, through LBL staff based in the Washington Project Office, in carrying out LBL projects that benefit from closer interactions with DOE Headquarters and with other agencies in Washington.
• Transmitting to existing and prospective clients information about LBL's technical capabilities and the results of recent and ongoing research.

When it started in 1993, the Project Office was staffed with two LBL employees and an office manager. We expected to have room for three to four years' growth. Instead, our success in supporting Berkeley staff while in Washington, and in identifying projects that benefit from close proximity to DOE and other sponsors, has all but filled the available office space within two years. Recent project additions include international energy-efficiency projects in developing and industrial countries, analysis of energy-efficient federal and state purchasing, and measurement and verification of energy savings in federal buildings. Other LBL programs are also considering plans to conduct policy analysis and related activities through the Project Office.

Significantly, the LBL Director's Office, in consultation with other divisions, has decided to follow the lead of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division and participate in staffing and managing the expanded Project Office--with a broader mission of representing all LBL Divisions. As a result, we hope to see many more people from LBL--and their colleagues and guests--taking advantage of our expanded facilities beginning this summer.

--Jeff Harris

Jeff Harris
Environmental Energy Technologies Division
1250 Maryland Ave. SW, Suite 150
Washington, D.C. 20024
(202) 484-0880