Ann Arbor, Michigan

Picture: The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Lab in Ann Arbor, MI.

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

The National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL)

Total Facility Area: 186,911 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 175 persons
Energy Consumption: 65,748,466,240 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 351,763
Total Water Consumption: 5,583,460 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per year: 29.9

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2010.

Description

NVFEL is the primary EPA research laboratory used for fuel and emissions testing. Work carried out in this laboratory supports the Office of Air and Radiation's (OAR) Office of Transportation and Air Quality's (OTAQ) efforts to establish and enforce emission standards for motor vehicles, engines, and fuels, as well as the development of automotive technology.

The facility primarily tests mobile sources of pollution (cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, etc.). The laboratory assists in the establishment of national standards for emissions and tests vehicles for compliance with the standards.

Awards

Dorothy Richards, Ruth Schenk, Jim Wright, Jan Adam, and Greg McCrumb won a fiscal year (FY) 2010 Waste Warrior Honorable Mention for having the second-highest diversion rate, 86.9 percent, of the EPA facilities that reported waste and recycling data in FY 2010.
In November 2007, NVFEL's facility manager, Steve Dorer, was honored with a Federal Energy and Water Management Award for Exceptional Service by the U.S. Department of Energy for leadership in energy and environmental management at the laboratory. In addition to making daily contact with NVFEL staff to ensure energy-saving measures—such as turning off lights and machinery during off-peak hours—were carried out properly, Mr. Dorer led the laboratory in implementing a number of key energy-saving initiatives in FY 2006.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

NVFEL eliminated some unnecessary lighting fixtures and installed more efficient fixtures in much of the facility between December 2009 and April 2010, reducing the energy needed for lighting in the renovated areas by approximately 52 percent. Lighting controls were also installed in parts of the building. By the end of November 2010, the facility plans to replace several high intensity discharge (HID) exterior light fixtures with more efficient light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures. Whenever offices and testing areas undergo renovation they receive new efficient lighting fixtures as part of NVFEL's ongoing energy savings efforts.
In FY 2006, through a joint and focused effort involving EPA’s Ann Arbor facility manager, other Ann Arbor facility personnel, and the energy savings performance contract (ESPC) contractor, EPA streamlined the operation of NVFEL to reduce energy use 24 percent from FY 2005. EPA entered into the ESPC in 1998 with NORESCO , one of the largest and most experienced energy service companies in the United States.
A comprehensive energy infrastructure upgrade that included installation of new boilers, chillers, rooftop air handling units, double enthalpy recovery, a 200-kilowatt natural gas fuel cell, and a new direct digital control system was completed in April 2001 under an ESPC. The ESPC was secured in 1998 and has proven itself successful, having reduced the facility's energy use by 50 percent compared to its baseline use. To learn more about this project, view the Ann Arbor ESPC case study (PDF) (6 pp, 257K) or the Ann Arbor ESPC presentation (PDF) (30 pp, 1.0MB).
The facility's chilled water plant consists of 900 tons of high-efficiency, double-effect chiller/heaters, which do not use chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) or hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants and are equipped with units to recover waste heat from the condensers in the cooling cycle. The chiller/heaters recover up to 25 percent of the input energy from the condenser water stream.
The natural gas fuel cell provides both base load power and emergency backup power for the facility. The fuel cell generates 200 kW of power and provides heating water for the reheat water loop serving the air handling units. By integrating the heating and cooling plant, EPA recovers significant amounts of energy that would have otherwise been wasted in cooling towers or radiators.

Green Power

EPA offsets 100 percent of the electricity consumption at NVFEL with renewable energy certificates (RECs) purchased through the Agency's current blanket green power contract. Learn more about EPA's current and past blanket green power contracts.

Green Building

In June 1999, the newly constructed NVFEL Laboratory Office Building, adjacent to the main laboratory, won the Engineering Society of Detroit Construction and Design Award. The award recognizes the architects, engineers, contractors, and owners of the facility in areas such as overall design quality, effective teaming, land use and environmental considerations, and energy consciousness.
This is the first EPA laboratory to be renovated under Laboratories for the 21st Century (Labs21^®), a voluntary program established by EPA and co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. NVFEL is a showcase facility for this program.

Water Conservation

In June 2010, EPA completed a revision of its water management plan for NVFEL (PDF) (21 pp, 180K, About PDF). The previous plan (PDF) (19 pp, 270K, About PDF), which is superseded by the June 2010 revision, was developed in FY 2003.
In September 2004, the laboratory replaced a water-based scrubber system with one that uses filter packets. The new system is expected to reduce water use up to 20 percent (estimated 1.2 million gallons).
As part of the FY 2001 ESPC, NVFEL replaced its single-pass cooling system with an upgraded cooling plant comprised of a recirculated chilled water loop. This upgrade helped NVFEL reduce its water consumption by 80 percent, saving the laboratory 24.8 million gallons of water and $216,000 annually.

Additional Features

All of the facility's chlorofluorocarbons were replaced by 1998.

For More Information About This Facility

Website: www.epa.gov/otaq/01-nvfel.htm

Steve Dorer (dorer.steven@epa.gov), Facilities Manager
2565 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48105
Phone: (734) 214-4200