Narragansett, Rhode Island - Archive

Note: EPA no longer updates this information, but it may be useful as a reference or resource.

Atlantic Ecology Division Laboratory

This page houses older environmental information about EPA's Atlantic Ecology Division Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island. View the laboratory's current facility page.

Mechanical upgrades completed in July 2004 at the laboratory have increased the energy and water efficiency of the facility's chilled water system. The upgrades were designed to: improve the entire chilled and condenser water system to allow for variable flow; reintegrate an existing small, air-cooled chiller into the primary chilled water loop to allow the large water-cooled chiller to be shut down when it is more efficient to run the small air-cooled chiller; and upgrade the building controls for the chilled water system. Between FY 2003 and FY 2007, the laboratory realized reductions in energy consumption of nearly 10 percent.

In March 2005, EPA entered into a three-year contract (procured by the Defense Energy Support Center ), with 3 Phases Energy Services , to purchase approximately 3 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of green power annually in the form of renewable energy certificates (RECs). This contract supported the generation of renewable energy from wind farms in California and Minnesota. The purchase offset 100 percent of the electricity consumption at the Narragansett laboratory.
From October 2003 to July 2005, EPA purchased a biodiesel fuel mix for use in the main heating boilers of its Narragansett laboratory. World Energy Alternatives of Chelsea, Massachusetts, supplied the fuel, which consisted of 20 percent biodiesel and 80 percent traditional fuel oil. The cleaner burning biodiesel portion of the fuel mix was derived from soybean oil, which made it biodegradable, nontoxic, and essentially free of sulfur and aromatics. Throughout the contract, the Narragansett laboratory consumed 300,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel. The laboratory has discontinued the use of biodiesel, however, because of rising fuel costs.

As a result of sanitary fixture upgrades completed in July 2004, the laboratory has saved nearly 350,000 gallons of water each year for a cost savings of approximately $760 per year. Learn more about these upgrades in the Sanitary Fixture Upgrades at EPA's NHEERL Facility Case Study (PDF) (2 pp, 481K, About PDF).