Golden, Colorado

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
Water Management Plan

Region 8 Laboratory

Total Facility Area: 50,839 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 32 persons
Energy Consumption: 16,037,552,554 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 315,458
Total Water Consumption: 3,561,000 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per Year: 70

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

Description

EPA staff at the Region 8 Laboratory perform physical, chemical, biological, and microbiological analyses of water, soil, air, plant, and tissue samples. The data generated by these studies is used in the Regional Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (REMAP), enforcement projects, and remediation projects. Many of these projects are undertaken to ensure successful restoration of contaminated ecosystems. The Region 8 laboratory was dedicated in 1998.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

In March 2002, the laboratory completed the installation of a transpired solar collector on the south wall of a hazardous materials building in an effort to save energy by naturally augmenting the heating and cooling system.
The Golden laboratory's ventilation system conserves energy after hours by reducing the system by 25 percent of its maximum volume. The system is divided into seven zones so that if employees are working late in a particular area of the facility, only that area will have 100 percent air exchange capacity.
The operating condition of the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system in the laboratory is monitored by a direct digital control system and alerts engineers when equipment is not operating correctly or optimally, saving time, money, and energy by addressing problems immediately.
The laboratory makes extensive use of daylighting, reducing electrical lighting needs. Where additional lighting is needed, energy-efficient T-8 fluorescent bulbs are used, along with motion sensors that turn off the lights when a room is unoccupied.
The building is fitted with 1-inch thick, double-paned thermal windows with solar-flexing film. The roof has been insulated to an R value of 30.

Green Power

In FY 2008, EPA continued to support the renewable energy market by purchasing green power through two separate Agencywide blanket contracts for a combined total of 380 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of renewable energy certificates (RECs), or “green tags,” from Sterling Planet , Luminant Energy Company , and FPL Energy . These purchases will allow EPA to offset 100 percent of electricity consumption for FY 2008 and the first half of FY 2009 at the Region 8 Laboratory, as well as many other EPA facilities across the Agency. Procured through the Defense Energy Support Center, these contracts support renewable energy generation from wind and biomass resources in nine states.
In November 2004, EPA entered into a three-year contract (procured by the Western Area Power Administration ) with Aquila, Inc. for the Golden, Colorado, Region 8 Laboratory. The contract provides the laboratory with 2.1 million kilowatt hours (kWh) per year in renewable energy certificates, offsetting 100 percent of annual electricity consumption and supporting the Colorado Green Wind Project in Prowers County, Colorado.
Previously, the Region 8 Laboratory had been meeting 100 percent of its electricity consumption by purchasing 2 million kWh of wind power. From 2000 to 2003, the laboratory received electricity generated by wind turbines at the Ponnequin Wind Facility.

Water Conservation

In May 2005, the facility conducted a sustainable landscaping assessment to explore alternatives to minimize landscaping water use. EPA, in coordination with the building owner, began a design concept to replace all or part of the facility's currently irrigated turf with xeriscaping. As of January 2007, the design was still being evaluated for feasibility and cost effectiveness. Designs will be consistent with the aesthetic covenants of the local industrial park. If implemented, the xeriscaping project could save the facility more than 750,000 gallons of water per year, or 18 percent of the laboratory's total annual water consumption.
In October 2003, EPA completed a water management plan (PDF) (17 pp, 326K, About PDF) for this facility .

For More Information

Gregory Saunders (saunders.gregory@epa.gov)
16194 W 45th Drive
Golden, CO 80403
Phone: (303) 312-7709
Fax: (303) 312-7800

Web site: www.epa.gov/region8/about/lab/r8lab.html