United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
vizi TI
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Office of Administration and Resources Management's Newsletter on Energy Conservation
Sustainable Facilities
June 2003
Pollution prevention—
it's not just part of
EPA's mission, but it's
something we practice
every day as EPA
employees. This issue
highlights some of the
Agency's pollution pre-
vention efforts in
action—from our
newest sustainable lab
facility in Kansas City,
to a revamped
Headquarters recycling
program, to Agency-
wide green purchasing
goals.
A Window to the Future of Lab Design
EPA opened a new Science & Technology
Center in Kansas City, Kansas, May 9,
2003, with an eye on the gold-that is, a
Gold Level rating for energy, resource, and
water efficiency from the Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED™) program.
LEED™ is a green building rating system
developed by the U.S. Green Building Counci to
encourage design and construction practices that
significantly reduce or eliminate the negative
impact of buildings on the environment and
occupants. EPA's Kansas City Science &
Technology Center (KCSTC) will be applying for
what it hopes will be a Gold Level certification,
the second highest rating in the LEED™ program.
Since most laboratories use more energy and
water per square foot than typical office build-
ings, this presented a unique sustainable design
challenge to KCSTC planners.
"With the design of this new facility, we want-
ed to preserve natural resources, ensure occu-
pancy health, and serve as a model for future
lab design," said Cathy Berlow, an architect with
EPA's Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch.
Located on a brownfield redevelopment site,
KCSTC is one of 10 EPA regional laboratories
that provide monitoring, analytica support, and
data assessments. "This facility is furnished with
the latest equipment and technology to make it a
state-of-the-art, world class lab for environmental
testing, research, and analysis," said EPA
Administrator Christine Whitman.
The 72,100 square foot facility incorporates
From left to right: Rev. Frank Horvat, St. John the
Baptist Church; Morris X. Winn, AA for Office of
Administration & Resources Management, EPA;
Christine Todd Whitman, Administrator, EPA; James
E. GuiJJiford, Regional Administrator, EPA; Bradley
M. Scott, Regional Administrator, GSA; Kansas City
Mayor Carol Marinovich.
numerous sustainable features, but one of the
most notable is the rooftop rainwater recapture
system, which directs water from a portion of the
roof into a holding tank. It will collect approxi-
mately 763,000 gallons of water per year, which
will be used for toilet flushing, cooling tower
make-up, and landscape irrigation. Additional
sustainable characteristics include:
• Energy efficiency—The building was sited to
maximize energy efficiency and daylighting
and included low-e window glass, occupancy
sensors, and technologically advanced
mechanical control systems.
• Water conservation—Low-flow plumbing fix-
tures, the rooftop rainwater recapture system,
and native landscaping all reduce water use.
continued on page 3
KCSTC is not the first EPA facility to seek a LEED™ Gold Rating—the New England
Regional Laboratory in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, was recently certified as LEED™ Gold for
its myriad sustainable design features. EPA's National Computer Center in North Carolina
has also applied for a LEED™ Silver Rating. (See August 2002 issue.)
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ENERGIZING EPA
page
Bin There, Done That?
EPA Headquarters Revamps Recycling Program
When EPA Headquarters completed the move of more
than 4,000 employees from its Waterside Mall loca-
tion to its Federal Triangle campus last year, a few
"igloos" were left behind-recycling containers, that is. The
igloo containers at Waterside Mall had become a symbol of
the successful employee recycling program there. Moving
from a single building occupied solely by EPA employees to a
campus shared by several federal agencies, however, has
brought challenges to EPA's recycling efforts.
While recycling has been available at all 1 5 EPA Headquarters
locations, employees have had to become acquainted with new
procedures. Each building that EPA occupies in the Federal
Triangle, for example, has slightly different logistics for collection,
storage, and transfer of recyclables. After analyzing recycling prac-
tices at all 1 5 Headquarters facilities, EPA determined that greater
uniformity was needed and is working with the General Services
Administration (GSA) and EPA building managers to make the
program as consistent as possible across all locations.
"We hope to set a new standard for EPA-wide and federal
agency recycling," said OARM Assistant Administrator Morris X.
Winn. "We're trying to do our part to meet EPA's Resource
Conservation Challenge goal of a 35 percent national recycling
rate by 2005."
The new plan will be implemented building by building over a
period of several months, starting in June 2003. Using the slogan
"Bin There, Done That?" the pro-
gram is encouraging employees to
put their recyclables in the correct
bins and keep recycling containers
free of contaminants.
"The key to a successful recy-
c ing program is the active involve-
ment of all 8,000 Headquarters
employees," Mr. Winn said. "Our
goal is to make participation as
simple and second nature as pos-
sible."
Initially, the revamped program
will focus on mixed office paper,
newspaper (separate from other
paper), aluminum and metal cans,
plastic and glass bottles, and cor-
rugated cardboard. Once all 1 5
Headquarters facilities have imple-
mented the program, EPA will
study the feasibility of adding fluo-
rescent lamps, laser toner cartridges, batteries, and food compost-
ing. For more information, contact Gail Wray at
.
EPA Sets Pollution Prevention and Purchasing Goals
Because the federal government is the largest consumer
of goods and services in the United States, Executive
Order 13101 mandates that federal agencies buy
products or services that "have a lesser or reduced effect on
human health and the environment when compared with
competing products." To help meet this order, EPA announced
Agency-wide "green purchasing" and pollution prevention
goals on Earth Day, April 22, 2003.
The goals lay out an aggressive path for EPA to follow in buy-
ing environmentally preferable products and services and reduc-
ing the Agency's environmental footprint. By 2005 and 201 0, the
Agency has set concrete goals to:
• Increase and promote recycling.
• Reduce materials entering EPA's waste stream.
• Promote and achieve increased and preferential use of recy-
cled-content materials.
• Emphasize and increase the purchase and use of environmen-
tally preferable products.
Work is already underway to meet the goals, which cover 10
product and service areas. For example, EPA already purchases
renewable power at five of its facilities, and it is aiming to add at
least one new facility each year to this list by 2010. To meet its
goal of including environmental aspects into all electronics pur-
chases by 2005, EPA and the Office of the Federal Environmental
Executive have developed the Federal Electronics Challenge
(FEC). Through FEC—a federal purchasing and end-of- ife man-
agement challenge—facilities will earn White House recognition
for environmentally responsible electronics stewardship. Other
goals focus on green buildings, janitorial and maintenance ser-
vices, copy paper and publications, meetings, office supplies,
automotive fleets, landscaping, and recycling and waste preven-
tion.
EPA employees received a copy of the Agency's green pur-
chasing goals on Earth Day. For more information, or to get
involved, contact a team member listed at or .
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ENERGIZING EPA
page
'Btu Busters" Honored at B&F Conference
As part of EPA's effort to support employees in integrat-
ing energy efficiency and pollution prevention into their
traditional facility management responsibilities, six
Agency staff received awards during EPA's Buildings and
Facilities (B&F) Conference in Gulf Breeze, Florida, February
3-7,2003.
Presented by Bucky Green, Chief of the Sustainable Facilities
Practices Branch (SFPB), these awards represent the first energy
achievement awards, scheduled to be given annually at future
B&F conferences. Each award was presented in a 100 percent
recycled corrugated cardboard frame. The winners are:
• Rick Dreisch, facility manager of the Fort Meade, Maryland,
Environmental Science Center (ESC), who has worked at EPA
for more than 24 years, received a Btu Buster of the Year
Award (FY 2002) for achieving the greatest energy use reduc-
tion among all EPA laboratories through a re-commissioning
project at ESC.
• Frank Price of the Ada, Oklahoma, Office of Research and
Development Laboratory received the Leading Edge Award
(2002) for his leadership in implementing Ada's energy savings
performance contract (ESPC).
• Steve Dorer, facility and project manager for the Ann Arbor,
Michigan, Office of Air and Radiation Laboratory, has worked
at EPA for more than 28 years. Mr. Dorer garnered a Leading
Edge Award (2001) for his work on the Ann Arbor ESPC.
• Rich Koch, director, Facilities Management and Services
Division, OARM-Cincinnati, and Rhonda Hampton of EPA's
Region 5 in Cincinnati received Energy Partner Awards 2002
(Field Staff) for their efforts on Cincinnati's green power pur-
chase and energy master plan.
• Stephanie James has worked at EPA for more than 1 7 years.
Currently in the Office of Administration's Architecture,
Engineering, and Real Estate Branch, Ms. James was given an
Energy Partner Award (2002) for her work on the Fort Meade,
Maryland, re-commissioning and Cincinnati, Ohio, energy
master plan projects.
For additional information, contact Bucky Green at
or visit .
Kansas City Lab continued from page 1
• Recycling—Asphalt paving and many other materials
were recycled during construction. Recycled content mate-
rials used include insulation, drywall, concrete, metal
studs, rebar, steel joists, glass, carpet, ceiling tiles, and
ceramic tile flooring.
• Resource conservation—Many construction materials
were obtained locally or produced, packaged, or trans-
ported in a way that reduced energy and material use.
• Indoor air quality—Low volatile organic compound
adhesives, paints, sealants, glues, caulks, carpets and
floor tiles were used, and extra care was taken during con-
struction to avoid airborne contaminants.
For more information on the KCSTC, visit
or contact Cathy Berlow at .
Recycling Brings Wray
Full Circle
Earlier this year, recycling veteran Gail Wray joined the staff
of OARM's Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch as a pol-
lution prevention coordinator. On detail from EPA's Office
of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), Ms. Wray
began working at EPA in the late 1 980s. Now she is helping to
standardize and implement the revamped Headquarters recycling
program and coordinate EPA's efforts to meet recycled product
procurement goals of Executive Order 13101, Greening the
Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal
Acquisition.
'After 30 years of community and state recycling program devel-
opment," Wray said, "I thought my expertise could be of service as
EPA tackles many of its own recycling and waste reduction programs."
Wray's recycling experience spans several decades, from estab-
lishing a newspaper collection/recycling program fora Boy Scout
troop in Wisconsin to serving as the Executive Director for Wisconsin's
Recycling Market Development Board. She was also the nation's first
Federal Environmental Executive, responsible for promoting recycling
and recycled product procurement at all federal agencies.
"In a way, 've come full circ e," Wray said. "One of my first
assignments as an EPA employee was to roll out the recycling pro-
gram at Waterside Mall. Now I'm leading the charge at the new
Headquarters."
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ENERGIZING EPA
page
Labs21 Conference to Take Denver by Storm
Lab designers, builders, and managers are getting ready
for the Laboratories for the 21 st Century (Labs21) Annual
Conference, October 21-23, 2003, in Denver, Colorado.
Sponsored by EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy, this
innovative conference will challenge participants to answer the
following questions: Who is designing energy efficient, envi-
ronmentally sound laboratories for the future? What technolo-
gies and techniques are changing the design and construction
of the next generation of laboratories? Which industries are
leading the way?
Through a series of sessions, workshops, and tours, Labs21
conference participants will discuss new solutions to enhance labo-
ratory design and operational efficiency while maintaining a focus
on sustainability. For the second year in a row, the conference will
also feature a technology fair with cutting-edge products from lab-
oratory-specific manufacturers.
Last year's conference attracted more than 450 attendees from
around the globe, and conference organizers anticipate another
successful event this year. "Each year, we assemble a diverse group
of speakers and tackle topics from a perspective no one else is
considering," said Phil Wirdzek, Labs21 program manager. "Our
audience continues to expand as more laboratory professionals
realize the importance of considering sustainability in their work."
The conference will feature many worthwhile events and
speeches, including internationally renown architect William
McDonough as the keynote speaker. Conference attendees will
also have the opportu-
nity to participate in a
series of tours, including
the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory's
Solar Energy Research
Facility, the University of
Colo-rado at Boulder,
and the National
Center for Atmospheric
The Solar Energy Research Facility
in Denver, Colorado.
Research's Mesa Laboratory in Boulder.
Online registration for the conference will begin on July 1,
2003. Fees are $275 for early registration (on or before August 1,
2003), and $300 after August 1, 2003. More information on the
conference can be found at .
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