Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
Native Landscaping

Main Building

Total Facility Area: 1,042,611 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 2,030 persons
Energy Consumption: 350,940,565,102 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 336,598
Total Water Consumption: 53,067,954 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per year: 51

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2007.

* In December 2005, EPA substantially completed installation of a Web-based metering system for the RTP NCC, New Main and Central Utility Plant serving these and other facilities. The NCC and New Main buildings opened in 2002 and 2003 respectively, and an allocation method, based on increases in energy use at the Central Utility Plant over historic levels, has been used to estimate energy usage. EPA will run the allocation/estimating method in parallel with the new Web-based metering system for one year to develop a basis for adjusting previous years’ estimated energy use. Issues about the accuracy of the new, high temperature hot water meters were discovered in fall 2006. Corrections are planned for late May 2007.

2007 Award Winner

Description

EPA has completed construction of this new consolidated laboratory and office complex. The facility, which was fully occupied in January 2003, houses the Office of Research and Development, the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, and the Office of Administration and Resources Management.

In addition to this facility, EPA occupies several other buildings in the Research Triangle Park area, including:

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

In March 2006, EPA completed two comprehensive recommissioning projects in the laboratory and vivarium wings of the RTP Main building. Both the Laboratory Controls Optimization Project (LCOP) and Vivarium Controls Optimization Project (VCOP) significantly reduced airflow demands by safely adjusting the occupied and unoccupied supply and exhaust requirements for each laboratory module. Together, these two projects have contributed to energy savings of more than 10 percent compared to FY 2004 energy consumption. EPA is also working on recommissioning a portion of the office wing in the Main building. EPA expects to complete this project by the end of FY 2008, and save an additional 5 percent below FY 2006 energy use.
Dependable air supply in the Main building originally required the constant operation of five air handling units (AHUs). Following LCOP and VCOP, the RTP team implemented the Static Pressure Optimization and Reduction Test (SPORT) and determined that only two to three AHUs would typically be needed to maintain static pressure in the laboratories and ensure safe ventilation. This adjustment allowed EPA to further optimize the energy savings achieved by LCOP and VCOP.
As a follow-up to LCOP, VCOP, and SPORT, in December 2006 EPA completed a laboratory ventilation management plan (LVMP), which documents all of the work completed in LCOP, VCOP, and SPORT. The LVMP also compiled helpful screenshots from the building automation system to help EPA’s operations and maintenance contractors perform continuous commissioning and further optimize energy savings already realized.
In FY 2006, EPA completed the first year of a multi-year controls master plan. In this initial year, EPA strengthened the backbone of the building automation system to improve data transmission, retention, and quality. In FY 2007, EPA continued to optimize the data flow by breaking long strings of control modules into smaller clusters. Upon completion of this project, EPA expects to reduce energy consumption by approximately 2 percent below FY 2006 consumption.
A lighting control/automatic shutoff system was phased in from June to October 2003, to reduce the amount of electricity needed for lighting in the new main building.
In FY 2002, EPA installed a building automation system that enables operations staff to monitor and control energy consuming aspects of the building, including temperature, pressures, humidity, electrical systems, refrigeration and boiler equipment, maintenance indicators and alarms, lighting, security, and communications.
Since FY 2003, fume hoods have been serviced by a centralized variable air volume supply and exhaust system. The fume hoods are equipped with control features such as "night setback" which allows for a reduction in air flow during unoccupied hours. Energy is saved by reducing the need to cool or heat outside air and run the fans during unoccupied hours.

Green Power

On November 1, 2004, EPA entered into a three-year agreement with Unicoi Energy Services, to purchase 100 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power in the form of renewable energy certificates (RECs) annually. The new contract will help support the generation of biomass power from paper pulp facilities in Port Wentworth, Georgia. The purchase offsets 100 percent of the electricity consumption at all of EPA's RTP facilities, including the New Main Facility. This contract replaces two previous contracts that provided 30 million kWh of green power from wind and landfill gas in FY 2003.
In September 2003, EPA finalized two contracts to supply RTP's NCC and Main campus with 30 million kWh per year of green power. As part of contracts awarded by the Defense Energy Support Center , Sterling Planet of Alpharetta, Georgia, supplied EPA with 20 million kWh of RECs generated at a landfill gas facility in Jacksonville, Florida, and 3 Phases Energy Services of San Francisco, California, supplied EPA with 10 million kWh of RECs from wind power generated in Algona, Iowa.
EPA is also supporting the generation of green power through the NC Green Power Program. The NC Green Power program is a new statewide program developed by the state Public Utility Commission to allow all North Carolina electricity customers to purchase green power.

Green Building

EPA selected building materials that are durable, low-maintenance, and have the least environmental impact over each material's life cycle. Design plans for this facility included detailed requirements regarding the minimum recycled content of building materials. Some of the products with recycled content included rubber flooring, ceramic tiles, asphalt paving, concrete, insulation, wood fiberboard, gypsum wallboard, and steel.

Water Conservation

EPA incorporated water-efficient fixtures throughout the facility, including flow-restricting nozzles, automated shutoff, and hot and cold water delivery systems with automatic temperature controls. The lavatories have sensor operated metered faucets that regulate the amount of water flow, which will save both water and the energy needed to heat it.

Stormwater Management

Stormwater runoff is naturally treated by plant material onsite to remove contaminants. Bioretention cells are also used to absorb, filter, and slow runoff. Natural woodlands and wildflower plantings are used in place of turf grass to minimize the use of water, fertilizer, and pesticides.

For More Information

For more information on the new RTP facility, read Leading By Example (PDF) (78 pp, 1.3MB,About PDF), an EPA case study that describes RTP's environmental features.

Contact

Steve VanHorn (vanhorn.steve@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA
Mail Code: C604-02
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Phone: (919) 541-5446

Web site: www.epa.gov/rtp