Research Triangle Park, North Carolina

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
Leed 2.0 Silver

National Computer Center (NCC)

Total Facility Area: 95,322 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 200 persons
Energy Consumption: 39,574,917,989 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 415,171
Total Water Consumption: 3,720,597 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per Year: 39

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.

Description

EPA's National Computer Center (NCC), one of the largest computer centers in the United States, provides large-scale computing services for EPA nationwide. NCC also supports regulatory program offices and administrative activities, as well as advanced supercomputing for scientific research in air quality protection and other environmental studies. The building opened in January 2002.

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

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

In FY 2007, EPA initiated numerous energy saving projects at NCC. In addition to recommissioning the entire facility, EPA focused significant effort in improving the energy performance of the computer wing. An extensive third party review of the data center’s operating conditions resulted in EPA shutting off six of the facility’s 13 computer room air conditioning units, while still meeting the sensitive cooling needs of the computer equipment. EPA also optimized and diversified the location of energy-intensive equipment to better match heat loads and cooling capacity. EPA anticipates these projects will help reduce NCC’s annual energy consumption by more than nine percent compared to FY 2006 energy use.
"Green" lighting features, including high-efficiency fluorescent lighting, motion sensors, daylight dimming sensors, and manual override switches, save 70 percent on electricity used for lighting when compared to the energy consumption of a facility with conventional fixtures.
Heating and cooling systems in NCC were chosen and modified to improve efficiency. Variable speed motors, fans, and pumps meet actual energy demand and therefore prevent energy waste. Outside air economizers reduce energy costs by bringing in outside air when the temperature and humidity meet acceptable levels. Additionally, a building automation system (BAS) monitors and controls various aspects of the building and works in tandem with the heating and cooling systems. The BAS controls temperature, pressure, humidity, electrical systems, computer room cooling units, cooling and heating equipment, maintenance indicators, lighting, and security.

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 helps 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 National Computer Center. This contract replaces 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 green tags from wind power generated in Algona, Iowa.
A 100-kilowatt, integrated roof power system installed on the roof of the NCC in April 2002, is one of the largest photovoltaic (PV) installations on the East Coast. In FY 2006, this roof generated 110,715 kilowatt hours of electricity. The PV system converts the sun's light into electrical energy, feeding it directly to the building and supplementing the main power utility. PV technology for the computer center is produced by Solarex Corporation. The system's PV cells are backed with insulating polystyrene foam, turning solar energy into usable power, while increasing the building roof's thermal insulation.
In addition, the RTP facility installed solar street lights in parking lots and along facility roadways. This is the longest stretch of solar-luminated roadway in the United States.
The solar roof and street lights reduce greenhouse gas and air-polluting emissions by approximately 100 tons annually when compared to conventional energy production through the burning of fossil fuels.

Photo of solar lighting that stretches along the facility roadways of RTP.

Green Building

In January 2005, EPA received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council rating for its National Computer Center. The LEED rating system is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
During NCC's construction, 90 percent of construction debris was recycled. GSA recognized the project's exceptional success with a Planet GSA Demolition Derby 2000 Award, and as a "model sustainable facility" in its 2001 annual national environmental awards.

For More Information

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