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Energy Savings & Alternative Energy Use

 

Modeling completed during design predicts almost 40 percent cumulative energy savings compared to current standards for federal buildings (ASHRAE 90.1 1999). Site design, day lighting, interior lighting and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) systems are the principal strategies resulting in reduced energy use.

• The building's double L design maximizes day lighting and allows building managers to take advantage of local environmental conditions in operating the building.
• The building's integrative design saves energy by creating synergies among the exterior envelope, window glazing, day lighting, lighting and HVAC systems. The following features are primary contributors to the facility's energy efficient design:
  • Increased insulation in walls (R19) and roofing (R31).
  • The highly reflective white EPDM ENERGY STAR roof, and the three levels of vegetated roof will reduce the amount of solar heat absorbed by the building, decreasing the building's cooling load, while minimizing the building's heat island effect.
  • Daylight and occupancy sensors, high efficiency window glazing, external shading and interior light shelves, and reduced power use for lighting based on more efficient, open workspace floor plans all contribute to energy savings.
  • Improved HVAC design parameters and equipment efficiency, variable frequency drive chillers, under floor air distribution, and an air-side economizer contribute additional energy savings.
  • Temperatures are maintained with the following operational controls:
    • Summer: 75 plus or minus 3
    • Winter: 72 plus or minus 3
    • Relative humidity 0-65 percent
• All mechanical and electrical systems were commissioned systematically for quality assurance.
• Construction drawings were "Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR," which helped establish a building rating target for the facility. One year's operating data is required to obtain ENERGY STAR® certification.

Both the Wynkoop building and the Regional laboratory in Golden are powered by wind energy purchased through Xcel Energy. Wind energy can also be used at home.

The roof contains 48 photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, with peak output of 10 kilowatts (enough energy to power three energy efficient homes). Electricity generated is fed into Xcel's electrical grid, generating dollar credits against energy used ("net metering"). Xcel offers net metering and rebates for installation of solar panels for both residential and commercial customers.

Electronic equipment (such as computers, PDAs, cellphones, and our LAN) are major energy consumers and a primary focus of the Region's Environmental Management System. Leaving a computer on for 24 hours a day instead of shutting it off costs about $26 a year and generates 44 percent more CO2 equivalent per year. To reduce energy use, the Region has established life cycle management policies for electronic equipment. Specifically, the Region taken the following steps:

• Established procedures to procure electronic equipment that meets ENERGY STAR and Federal Electronic Challenge recommended ratings.
• Upgraded all of the Region's computer monitors from CRT (cathode ray tube) to LCD (liquid crystal display) models, which creates significant energy savings.
• Programmed all desktop and laptop computers to use power-save utilities that automatically put monitors to "sleep" when not in use.
• Updated and consolidated general use printers, standalone copiers, scanners, and fax machines (originally numbering over 200), to just 50 multi-function devices (equipment that scans, e-mails, faxes, prints or copies) shared among all regional users. Paper use is one of the Region's major environmental impacts. Multifunction devices make it very easy to scan and e-mail documents instead of making paper copies and sending them through inter-office mail. Research completed during the move indicates that each multifunction device uses about 80 percent less energy than the convenience copiers they replaced, and the multifunction devices are also less expensive to operate.

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ENERGY STAR

Clean Energy

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