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April 09 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine
CMRR is going “green”
Lab reducing its
environmental footprint
Nicole Seguin and Tony
Ladino make sure that
ventilation ducts and
other piping for the CMRR
Project remain properly
sealed and debris free
until they are installed,
which helps ensure better
air quality inside the
buildings. Photo by Richard C. Robinson
According to the Department of Energy,
buildings account for 71 percent of America’s
electricity use and 38 percent of all greenhouse-gas emissions. The United States Green
Building Council (USGBC) reports “green”
buildings can reduce energy use by 50 percent
and carbon dioxide emissions by 39 percent.
Both buildings in the Chemistry and Metallurgy
Research Replacement (CMRR) Project—
the Radiological Laboratory, Utility, and Office
Building (RLUOB) under construction and
the planned Nuclear Facility—are registered
under the USGBC Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED®) for New Construction
and Major Renovation (LEED-NC)
voluntary rating system. LEED-NC encourages
sustainable green building and development practices. Since its inception in 2000, it has
become the nationally accepted benchmark
for design, construction, and operation of
high-performance green buildings, said CMRR
Security and Environmental Compliance Project
Manager Tony Ladino.
“It is important to design and construct buildings
that are environmentally efficient,” noted
CMRR Project Division Leader Rick Holmes.
“Doing so is often cost efficient as well. The
initial investment is not usually large when
compared to the overall cost and over time,
the cost savings from reduced energy usage
become very significant.”
Tony Ladino examines an
energy-efficient boiler
inside the Radiological
Laboratory, Utility, and
Office Building. Photo by Richard C. Robinson
The LEED-NC rating system awards certification
points in six categories: sustainable sites,water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources,
indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design. A total of
69 points can be achieved, leading to “certified,” “silver,” “gold,” or
“platinum” certification, said Nicole Seguin, who works with the CMRR
Engineering, Construction Management, Start-up, and Operations
groups and the RLUOB construction subcontractor and its architect and
engineering firm to ensure LEED requirements are met.
The RLUOB facility is expected to achieve at least a silver certification
(33 points minimum) because of its siting, design, and construction elements,
Seguin said. These include public transportation access, car and
vanpool parking, habitat restoration, storm water design, reduced roof
heat island effects, reduced light pollution, water-efficient landscaping,
reduced fixture water use, optimized energy performance, construction
waste management, regional material use, and low-volatile organic
carbon-emitting materials used for adhesives, sealants, carpets, paints,
and composite wood products.
“An example of an energy-efficient element is the thermal storage
system, which creates ice during the night when electricity demand and
cost is typically lower,” Seguin said. “During the day, air is passed over
the ice to cool. The cooled air is then distributed throughout the
building."
Other practices to achieve LEED points include controlling indoor air
quality during construction and commissioning the building to ensure
that major systems, such as heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning
systems, perform according to design.
For many years now, DOE has required planners to consider sustainable design when building
new DOE facilities, Ladino said. He explained that past DOE orders required use of a third-party
rating system to determine levels of sustainability. “It wasn’t until DOE Order 430.2B was issued
in February 2008 that DOE decided to require use of the LEED rating system,” he said.
Energy efficiency and sustainability were included early on in the RLUOB and Nuclear Facility design, Ladino said, adding that the National Nuclear Security Administration decided in late
2004 to pursue LEED certification for the RLUOB.
The RLUOB and Nuclear Facility are the first buildings at the Laboratory to go through the
official LEED certification process, Holmes said. “Although other buildings, such as the National
Security Sciences Building, have LEED elements in their design and construction, these buildings
were not registered with the USGBC, and they were not granted LEED certification,” he said.
The CMRR Project replaces the outdated Chemistry and Metallurgy Research (CMR) facility built
in 1952. RLUOB consists of about 19,500 net square feet of radiological laboratory space, centralized
utilities and services for all CMRR facility elements, office space for 350 CMRR workers,
a consolidated training facility, facility incident command, and emergency response capabilities.
The Nuclear Facility will consist of about 22,500 net square feet of laboratory space, special
nuclear material storage space, and auxiliary equipment space.
--Tatjana K. Rosev
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