United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
vizi TI
^ -- ' ---
Office of Administration and Resources Management's Newsletter on Energy Conservation
and Sustainable Facilities
November 2002
EPA has embarked on a
new initiative to improve
water efficiency in its lab-
oratories and office build-
ings, as part of its ongoing
effort to improve environ-
mental performance, con-
serve resources, reduce
utility costs, and meet
federal requirements
under Executive Order
13123, Greening the
Government Through
Efficient Energy
Management. From reduc-
ing leaks and eliminating
irrigation to upgrading
mechanical systems and
employing recycling tech-
nologies, the Agency is
committed to increasing
water conservation across
all of its facilities.
EPA Laboratories Conserve to the Last Drop
Chelmsford, Fort Meade Lead Water Efficiency Initiative
Executive Order (E.O.) 13123 requires all
federal agencies to report baseline water
use at their facilities and establish goals
for water conservation. The Executive Order
requires each agency to reduce potable water
use by implementing the Order's 10 best man-
agement practices—including low-flow sanitary
fixtures, optimizing cooling tower systems,
reuse/recycling, and water-efficient landscap-
ing. By the end of 2002, EPA must have water
management plans incorporating at least four
of the 10 best management practices in 5
percent of its facilities (or two of the labs it
owns and operates). Labs in Chelmsford,
Massachusetts, and Fort Meade, Maryland,
are leading the way in implementing these best
management practices and implementing
water management plans that meet the criteria
in E.O. 13123.
EPA's New England Regional Laboratory
in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, exemplifies sev-
eral of the best management practices called
for in E.O. 13123. To reduce water needs
before the facility opened in October 2001,
EPA worked with designers to specify a number
of conservation technologies. All the restrooms
have low-flow sinks with automatic flush
valves, and some of the men's rooms will soon
have waterless urinals. EPA also installed a
rooftop rain recovery system that diverts water
from storm drains to onsite wetlands. The
Agency reduced the area of lawn on the site
covered with grass and landscaped mostly with
native plants and organic mulch, and a well
on the site supplies nonpotable water as need-
ed for irrigation. In addition, facility employees
and janitorial staff are trained in water conser-
Native plant landscaping in Fort Meade, MD.
vation measures, such as reporting and imme-
diately correcting leaky faucets.
EPA's Environmental Science Center in
Fort Meade, Maryland, opened in February
1999. Native plants were planted or main-
tained on the 24-acre site, reducing the need
for irrigation. Low-flow toilets, urinals, faucets,
and showerheads were installed throughout the
facility, and leaks are reported and handled
immediately through a facility hotline. Use of
single-pass cooling has been eliminated from
laboratory processes and point-of-use closed-
loop chillers are used in labs where water cool-
ing is required. On the mechanical side, the
cooling tower system is carefully maintained to
achieve a high degree of water recycling.
Following are a few more examples of ways
EPA labs have cut back on water use and pro-
moted water efficiency:
• New RTP Campus. EPA incorporated
water-efficient fixtures throughout the labo-
ratory campus that was dedicated in May
2002 in Research Triangle Park, North
Carolina. Lab sinks have flow-restricting
nozzles, automated shutoff, and automatic
continued on page 2
-------
ENERGIZING EPA page 2
5 Recycles /; Any thing That Rips'
EPA's Region 5 and the General Services Administration
(GSA) have united to create a closed-loop paper recycling
program for the federal Metcalfe Building in Chicago.
Through a paper recycling program known as Anything-That-Rips,
the approximately 2,200 federal employees at the Metcalfe
Building can recycle all of their paper (high- and low-quality)—lit-
erally, anything that rips.
Recycling was already commonplace in the
Metcalfe Building, but the sorting and maintenance
of the high-grade paper was cost-prohibitive and
participation was limited. "Imagine that you're the
manager of a 26-story, multi-tenant federal building
attempting to persuade 2,200 tenants to separate
white paper, mixed paper, corrugated cardboard,
newspapers, magazines, bottles, and cans for recy-
cling," said Rich Hoffman, a program analyst and
recycling coordinator for EPA's Region 5. "Not only that, but the
janitorial employees must keep those items separated all the way
to the loading dock. That's a lot of work for the limited amount of
money these commodities fetch in today's recycling market."
By making participation easy and collecting all grades of
paper, EPA and GSA have increased the building's collection rate
by 200 percent over the previous year's paper separation pro-
gram, and have fully closed the recycling loop. Every month, GSA
collects 1 8 tons of mixed paper, which is sent to Kimberiy Clark
Corporation and manufactured into new products such as towels
and tissues. GSA then buys back these products to stock the
Metcalfe Building.
A month-long study conducted by Region 5 found that the
quality of these new towels and tissues exceeds the material that
was previously purchased. According to Hoffman, "The response
from our employees to these new products was
outstanding."
The new recycling program is also saving
money. Under the previous collection program,
janitorial staff had to sort paper three hours per
day to achieve various levels of collection purity.
GSA now saves nearly $5,500 each year avoiding
this task. In addition, GSA realizes the financial
advantage of purchasing paper products made
from the building's recycled material—the recycled products are
less costly—and its contractor saves $12,900 a year in avoided
disposal fees by reducing paper waste. According to Hoffman,
through this closed-loop program EPA is helping to keep the
majority of its paper materials out of the waste stream and has
become a model for other recycling programs.
For more information, contact Rich Hoffman at 312
6116 or .
EPA Labs Conserve Water
temperature controls for hot and cold water. The restrooms
have sensor-operated metered faucets that regulate water
flow, which saves water and the energy needed to heat it. In
addition, the campus is landscaped with native plants and
wild flowers that grow naturally in the existing climate, requir-
ing little maintenance and reducing the need for watering.
• Region 10 Laboratory. Sometimes upgrades to a facility's
mechanical systems can result in major water savings. In June
1998, EPA's lab in Manchester, Washington, replaced its four-
inch PVC water lines with six-inch ductile iron ones. The big-
ger, stronger lines reduce the frequency of leaks, which
reduces the lab's overall water consumption rate. The lab
also replaced a 20-year-old water cooling tower in October
1999 with a new, more efficient tower, which reduced the
water volume needed to run the cooling system. These
upgrades have cut the facility's water consumption by 66 per-
cent, from 204,000 to about 70,000 gallons per month.
• Kansas City Science & Technology Center. EPA is build-
ing a new lab in Kansas City, Kansas, that will "harvest"
rainwater from the roof and condensate from the cooling
coils in its air conditioning system. The rooftop rain recov-
contimied from page 1
ery system catches and filters rainwater to use in toilets and
as makeup water for the facility's cooling tower. During the
summer, it is estimated that the cooling tower will need
approximately 1 0,000 gallons of water per day to provide
cooling to the building's chiller. In addition to rainwater,
the facility will capture condensate, or the "sweat" from the
cooling coils in air conditioning units and recycle it into
make-up water for the cooling tower.
Even with numerous best management practices in place
at several of its facilities, EPA is continuing to review its labs'
water use and look for ways to improve conservation. The Office
of Administration and Resources Management (OARM) is assess-
ing several facilities' water use and management practices and,
as part of the Agency's Safety, Health, and Environmental
Management auditing process for each of its buildings, OARM
also evaluates water use and recommends conservation strate-
gies. As it strives to reach E.O. 13123's ultimate goal of water
management plans in 80 percent of facilities by 2010, OARM
can support all major EPA facilities in developing water manage-
ment plans. For more information, contact Dan Amon in the
OARM Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch at 202 564-7509
or .
-------
ENERGIZING EPA
page 3
DER Diversifies EPA's Energy Portfolio
As a way to diversify their energy supply and reduce
reliance on traditional energy sources, several EPA
facilities are now using distributed electrical resources
(DER). DER, or off-grid electrical sources that cover a variety
of onsite power generation alternatives, offers several distinct
advantages over traditional electric power:
• Improves the reliability and quality of a facility's power supply
• Provides redundancy or "backup"
• Taps into renewable resources
• Reduces emissions
• Puts less pressure on the regional electrical grid
• May have lower life cycle costs
Recent changes in the electric utility industry have allowed EPA
labs to take advantage of such DER options as natural gas fuel
cells, geothermal power, and solar energy.
As part of an energy savings performance contract (ESPC) at
EPA's National Vehicle Fuel Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) in
Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2001 the energy service company
installed a natural gas fuel cell to provide both base load power
and emergency backup power. The fuel cell generates 200 kilo-
watts of power and provides hot water. By cutting the lab's peak
load demand for energy that is dependent on the electrical grid,
this effort also reduced the charges that NVFEL pays for electricity.
Another ESPC project, the Robert S. Kerr Environmental
Research Center in Ada, Oklahoma, has installed a ground-
source heat pump, which uses the Earth's heat to generate power
and will contribute to energy savings of more than 50 percent at
the facility once operational in March 2003. The system will pro-
vide an alternative source of heating and cooling for the facility for
10 months of each year, reducing the need for a cooling tower to
only July and August (the peak season for cooling needs).
EPA's National Computer Center (NCC) in Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina, installed a photovoltaic roof,
one of the two largest on the East Coast. Tiles on the roof use the
sun's light to generate 80 kilowatts of electricity—enough electrici-
ty to power the entire building's lights. As a result, NCC uses less
energy from the regional power grid.
Another way DER helps EPA is by providing a higher quality of
energy. "Because of some of the sensitive equipment the labs use,
an interruption in power cannot be afforded even for a micro-
second," notes Dan Amon, a mechanical engineer with EPA's
Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch.
In the future, the Agency may rely even more on DER. EPA is
working in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak
Ridge National Laboratory on feasibility studies for two additional
distributed generation projects at NCC and NVFEL. At the NCC,
one proposed option was to install a two-megawatt diesel gener-
ator for emergency power. After considering alternatives such as a
natural gas-fired turbine or fuel cell, however, Oak Ridge deter-
mined that a gas-fired turbine could be implemented with a sim-
DER Efficiency—Combined Heat and Power Example
(Courtesy of DOE)
Standard Power Plant
100% Fuel
Input
d
60% "Waste" Heat
Rejected to Environment
40% Useful Energy
Produced for Electricity
100% Fuel
Input
Combined Heat and Power Plant
20% "Waste" Heat
Rejected to Environment
40% Useful Energy Produced
for Heating and/or Cooling
Via District Energy System
40% Useful Energy
Produced for Electricity
d
pie payback period of 11 years—and significantly reduce emis-
sions compared to the diesel generator.
At NVFEL, Oak Ridge is looking at microturbine and fuel cell
options as alternatives to the six or more internal combustion
engines that would be needed to provide "clean power," a term
for a completely uninterrupted power supply, which is not avail-
able from the traditional electric grid. In that case, the payback
period of the additional cost over the internal combustion engines
was two years. EPA will consider these DER options as the Agency
makes its final decisions on backup power for both labs. For more
information, contact Dan Amon at 202 564-7509 or
.
New Look for OARM Web Site
EPA's OARM recently revamped part of its public Web site
to provide easy access to information on sustainable
practices at the Agency's facilities. The site now provides a
wealth of data, such as facility square footage, energy and
water consumption, facility manager contact information,
and "green" building highlights.
OARM renamed this Web site Greening EPA to reflect the
many efforts EPA is undertaking to live its mission by practic-
ing sound environmental management at its facilities. By
updating the site on a quarterly basis, OARM is bringing the
most current information available to the public, such as the
latest on the Agency's efforts to procure green power for its
facilities, and the most recent Energizing EPA newsletter. Visit
or contact Marjorie Buchanan
at 202 564-8206 or .
-------
ENERGIZING EPA
page 4
2002 Labs21 Conference Draws Record Attendance
More than 400 laboratory designers, owners, and opera-
tors from around the globe convened in Durham, North
Carolina, for the 2002 Laboratories for the 21 st
Century (Labs21) Annual Conference, October 7 to 10, 2002.
Attendees worked together to devise new solutions to reduce
costs and increase laboratory design and operational efficiency
using the principles advocated by the Labs21 Program.
Morris X. Winn, EPA's Assistant Administrator for Administra-
tion and Resources Management, opened the conference by
noting the importance of the accomplishments of Labs21 and its
partners. "Your work, whether for a corporation, a university, or a
federal institution, is helping to build the future of research. By
making labs energy efficient and environmentally sustainable,
you are also protecting and preserving our most critical
resource—the environment."
Conference sessions delved into industry-specific topics,
including bio-containment facilities, large-animal labs, aeronau-
tics labs, and automotive testing facilities. As a new component,
this year's conference also featured a technology fair, displaying
state-of-the-art products from nearly 30 vendors.
"As laboratories are places for cutting-edge research, they
can be viewed as leaders and agents of change," said Phil
Wirdzek, EPA's Labs21
program manager. "By
embracing aggressive
environmental and energy
efficiency goals, these
buildings can expand
their leadership role and
contribute to the commer-
cialization of advanced
building technologies and
economic growth. These
goals were successfully
pursued by each attendee
and speaker at this year's
Labs21 conference."
Labs21 has announced
plans for its 2003 Annual
Conference to be held in
Denver, Colorado, from
October 20 to 23, 2003. More information is available
at or from Phil Wirdzek
at 202 564-2094 or .
Assistant Administrator Morris X.
Winn welcomes attendees at the
recent Labs21 Conference.
jaiunsuoDjsod
jsoa| 40 su|Djuo3 J
jadod uo
Dd96llJU99j6/Ao6'Dd9'MMM
ZOOZ,
OOC$ 9sn
ssgujsng ppjijQ
DO '
pUD UOJ|DJ|SJUJLUpy JO
UOJP9JOJJ |D|U9LUUOJJAUg
S9JDJ$ p9|!U|-|
------- |