United States
                Environmental Protection
                Agency
Office of Administration and Resources Management's Newsletter on Energy Conservation
                                  and Sustainable Facilities
                                                                         October 2006
  The Laboratories for the 21st
    Century (Labsll) 2006
   Annual Conference is fast
  approaching! Don't miss your
   chance to be a part of this
  month's exciting event, which
  will bring more than 600 lab-
  oratory designers, engineers,
   and facility managers from
    around the world to San
    Antonio, Texas, October
         17-19, 2006.
   Online registration for the
   conference is now available
  through the Labs21 Web site
   at  or contact Justin Spenillo at
(202) 564-0639 or spenillo.justin@epa.gov.

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                                   ENERGIZING EPA October 2006 |  page 2
EPA  Takes  Energy Efficiency  to  New  Heights  in  RTF
       Py working together to optimize
       building performance at its facili-
       ties in Research Triangle Park
(RTP), North Carolina, EPA Headquarters
and laboratory staff have found several
ways to significantly reduce energy use
at one of the Agency's largest laborato-
ries, helping to meet new federal
requirements for energy reduction in the
Energy Policy Act of 2005.
   EPA's main facility at its RTP campus,
with more than one million square feet
of laboratory and office space, accounts
for nearly one-third of the Agency's
overall annual energy use. Over the past
three years, a team of EPA employees
from RTP and Headquarters has been
developing and implementing extensive
recommissioning projects to improve
the performance and efficiency of critical
building control systems. In fiscal year
(FY) 2005, their efforts helped reduce
annual energy use  by 7 percent com-
pared to FY 2004; an additional reduc-
tion of up to 8 percent is expected in FY
2006 with the completion of several key
projects.
   In FY 2003, EPA  began exploring
opportunities to optimize building per-
formance at RTP. A joint RTP-Headquar-
ters team initiated the Laboratory
Controls Optimization Project (LCOP)
and Vivarium Controls Optimization Pro-
ject (VCOP) to reduce energy use by
minimizing air flow during both occu-
pied and unoccupied periods, while
ensuring performance and employee
safety. For both projects, the
team measured baseline air
flow, then performed addi-
tional tests to determine the
optimal range for ventilation
controls when laboratories
are occupied or unoccupied.
Based on the results, the
team adjusted and fine-
tuned air flow set points,
and assessed the impacts of
these changes on the heat-
ing, ventilation, and air con-
ditioning system. In doing so, the team
was able to develop, verify, and imple-
ment plans to save energy and ensure
safe ventilation in each of the laboratory
units, animal suites, and building corri-
dors and atriums.
   LCOP and VCOP also created an
opportunity for additional energy sav-
ings by reducing demands on the facili-
ty's air handling units (AHUs). The team
implemented a Static Pressure Optimiza-
tion and Reduction Test (SPORT) to opti-
mize the number of AHUs needed to
supply a minimum "static pressure"for
each of the laboratories. With reduced
operation of AHUs, EPA expects to
reduce the facility's overall energy use
by an additional 2 percent in FY 2006
compared to the FY 2004 baseline.
   Due in large part to the dedicated
efforts of the RTP-Headquarters team,
recommissioning projects have vastly
enhanced building performance and are
expected to reduce annual energy con-
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   sumption by up to 17 percent compared
   to the FY 2004 baseline.
      The projects will have several other
   long-term impacts, such as extending
   the life of the HVAC system and estab-
   lishing standard procedures for efficient
   system operation and preventative
   maintenance, as well as providing EPA
   substantial utility cost savings, resulting
   in a payback period of approximately
   two years.
      "The success of LCOP, VCOP, and
   SPORT reflect the significant time, effort,
   and resources EPA has invested into
   improving energy efficiency and provid-
   ing safe work environments,"said Dan
   Amon of EPA's Sustainable Facilities Prac-
   tices Branch. "Based on this success,
   these projects will now serve as models
   for future efforts to increase energy effi-
   ciency and ensure employee comfort
   and safety at other EPA facilities."
      For more information, contact Dan
   Amon at .
  New Energy Metering System Tracks  Savings
   EPA recently installed a new online
   energy and water metering system for
   RTP's main facility and National Com-
   puter Center. With real-time metered
   data at their fingertips, RTP's facilities
   staff will be able to more effectively
   monitor and manage energy and
   water consumption at these two
   facilities. Experience with this system
   will also provide EPA with information
   to install similar metering capabilities
   at its other laboratories across the
   country, as the Agency works to meet
   federal advanced metering require-
   ments established by the Energy
   Policy Act of 2005.

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                      ENERGIZING EPA October 2006 |  page  3
NVFEL  Achieves  International  EMS  Certification
       EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel
       Emissions Laboratory (NVFEL) in
       Ann Arbor, Michigan, has
become the second EPA laboratory to
have its environmental management
system (EMS) certified to the ISO 14001
standard.
   ISO 14001 specifies an internationally
recognized "best practice"framework for
developing an EMS. Under the frame-
work, each organization identifies those
aspects of its business that impact the
environment, develops objectives and a
management program for improving
performance, and subjects the system to
regular monitoring and review, with an
eye towards achieving continual
improvement. While many federal facili-
ties (including 34 EPA facilities) have
implemented EMSs in accordance with
Executive Order 13148, relatively few
have taken the additional step (and
incurred the cost) of subjecting the sys-
tem to a review from an accredited ISO
14001 registration auditor.
   The key advocate for ISO 14001 regis-
tration was Christopher Grundler, Deputy
Director, EPA Office of Transportation and
 Air Quality. "We value
 innovation in all
 aspects of our work,
 from establishing
 national emission
 standards to develop-
 ing clean automotive
 technologies and
 state-of-the-art mea-
 surement protocols,"
 Grundler said. "This
 value applies to how
 we manage our oper-
 ations as well, and
 achieving ISO certifi-
 cation was a natural fit for us."
    NVFEL first self-declared its EMS to be
 in place in August 2005, well in advance
 of the December, 31, 2005 deadline
 required under Executive Order 13148.
 The laboratory then began the process
 of preparing for an  ISO 14001 certifica-
 tion in January 2006. The facility sought
 out this voluntary, third-party certifica-
 tion as a means of demonstrating its
 commitment to continual improvement
 and to lead by example. The effort was
 strongly supported and encouraged by
                   NVFEL Revisits ESPC
  NVFEL established EPA's first energy
  savings performance contract (ESPC),
  an innovative way to upgrade its
  mechanical systems by financing
  them with utility savings. Since the
  start of the contract in April 2001,
  NVFEL has been able to cut its energy
  profile in half and reduce its water
  use  by 73 percent (from baseline val-
  ues).
    However, since 2005, workload
  changes and additions to the facility
  have degraded energy performance.
  Based on recent energy audits initia-
  ted in response to this issue, NVFEL
  developed a new list of areas for
improvement that includes installing
a cogeneration system and high-effi-
ciency chiller, reducing the fixture
density of hallway lighting, and
reducing the air exchange rates in the
laboratories. The contracted energy
services company is considering
incorporating requirements for these
improvements into the original con-
tract. "The laboratories here were
built in the late 1960s," said Steven
Dorer, NVFEL facility manager. "The
ESPC has allowed us to upgrade the
facility while achieving financial and
environmental benefits."
all levels of NVFEL's staff, from office
management to laboratory technicians.
According to Ruth Schenk, the facility's
EMS coordinator, "The people here at
[NVFEL] want to participate. They are
generously offering suggestions and
developing new programs that strength-
en and support the EMS."
   NVFEL primarily functions as a fuel
and emissions testing laboratory for
mobile sources. For that reason, the EMS
focused on five significant environmen-
tal aspects: 1) air emissions from testing
and facility operations; 2) accidental
releases and spills; 3) chemical use
throughout the lab; 4) consumption of
natural resources; and 5) waste reduc-
tion. Some of the facility's accomplish-
ments in the past year include:
•  Selling or recycling 425 computer
  units through the Recycling Electron-
  ics and Asset Disposition (READ) pro-
  gram. (See March 2006 Energizing EPA.)
•  Switching to reusable absorbents for
  laboratory cleaning and spills, pre-
  venting more than 2,200 pounds from
  entering the waste stream annually.
•  Moving to filtered solvent for its auto-
  motive parts cleaners, reducing the
  amount of solvent needed for each
  cleaner by more than 40 gallons each
  year.
   For more information on NVFEL, con-
tact Steven Dorer, facility manager, at
(734) 214-4200 or .

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                                    ENERGIZING EPA October 2006 |  page 4
Safeguarding EPA  Assets With  Electronics  Stewardship
       As technology advances, more elec-
       tronics are used and discarded,
       posing complex energy efficiency
and environmentally responsible disposal
challenges. This article kicks off a series of
articles in Energizing EPA that will discuss
EPA's role in the lifecycle of electronics,
including the roles of property officers, the
Tools for Schools program, and other
important programs dedicated to the chal-
lenges of electronics purchase, reuse, and
recycling.
   To ensure the reuse, recycling, and
proper disposal of electronics, as well as
safeguarding Agency assets, EPA uses a
thorough personal property manage-
ment process. The Property Manage-
ment Program (PMP), which tracks
accountable and sensitive property such
as computers,  printers, and office equip-
ment throughout its lifecycle at the
Agency, plays a key role in implementing
the Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC),
which promotes environmental steward-
ship in federal  electronics purchase, use,
and disposal.
   EPA recently signed a Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) with several
other federal agencies titled Promoting
Sustainable Environmental Stewardship of
Federal Electronic Assets. The  PMP plays
an important role in implementing this
MOU and the Federal Electronics Chal-
lenge. To implement the  MOU and the
FEC, the Agency is looking to all employ-
ees to help minimize the environmental
impact of electronics at every lifecycle
stage—including purchase, use, and
end-of-life management.
   "Ensuring accountability to safeguard
EPA's assets will promote an effective
and efficient personal property manage-
ment program," said Brenda Bell, the
Agency's Property Management Officer.
"It also results in cost savings through-
out the property's life cycle, from acqui-
sition to disposal."
   Personal property, also known as
"moveable assets,"is a broad category
that covers nearly every item EPA pur-
chases or leases except real property
(and low cost items such as office sup-
plies). Personal property also includes
"sensitive items"that are tracked regard-
less of price, such as computers, laptops,
BlackBerries, and cell phones purchased
by EPA for business use by employees. A
listing of all the sensitive items can be
found on the property Web site at
.
   The PMP focuses on ensuring the
proper use, tracking, and disposal of this
property. The program relies on the par-
ticipation of the Property Management
Team, including custodial officers in
every "accountable area" as well as EPA
employees. For those items purchased
on a purchase card and delivered direct-
ly to cardholders, it's important to keep
custodial and property officer informed
of the purchase, including sensitive
items.
   As part of EPA's commitment to the
environment, the PMP works to promote
maximum usage from EPA's assets. The
Agency is working on a plan to increase
the "refresh cycle"of replacing electronic
equipment to every four years, instead
of every three years. Once EPA employ-
ees reach maximum usage of their per-
sonal property, it may only be disposed
of through one of the following meth-
ods:
•   Transferred to the General Services
   Administration (GSA) "exchange
   sales"as surplus property.
       EPA's Electronic
  Stewardship Activities
      Purchasing
      Reuse
      Recycling
      Proper Disposal
      Awareness
•   Donated through the Computers for
   Learning Program (CFL).
•   Reused, manufactured, recycled, or
   disposed of properly under the Recy-
   cling Electronics and Assets Disposi-
   tion services contract (READ, see the
   March 2005 issue of Energizing EPA).
   To facilitate reuse, recycling, and
proper disposal of electronics, either at
maximum usage or due to other circum-
stances such as an office move, EPA
employees should be aware of their
responsibilities in the property manage-
ment process. Employees should give
their custodial officers a list of comput-
ers and equipment along with the seri-
al/ID numbers, location of the items,
and the condition of the item. The elec-
tronic equipment will be inspected and
assigned a disposal code, depending on
its condition, to determine whether the
computer goes to GSA, CFL, or READ. In
the first stage of the move from three
EPA buildings in the Crystal City area of
Northern Virginia to a new office build-
ing, for example, 60 computers were
donated to CFL and 350 to 400 comput-
ers were handled under the READ ser-
vice contract.
   For more information on the PMP,
visit  or contact Brenda Bell in the Facili-
ties Management and Services Division
at (202) 564-4830. To learn more about
the Federal Electronics Challenge, visit
.

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                     ENERGIZING EPA October 2006  | page 5
                                                          Award  Winners  Update
Energy Upgrades  at  Chelmsford Lab Yield Big  Savings
      Energy use dropped by 11  per-
      cent from fiscal year (FY) 2004 to
      FY 2005 at EPA's New England
Regional Laboratory (NERL) in Chelms-
ford, Massachusetts. And it's due in large
part to the dedicated efforts of NERL
Facility Manager Bob Beane and his staff
to enhance the energy efficiency of the
building's heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning (HVAC) system.
   Due to inefficient heating coils in
perimeter offices, ice formed on the
inside of windows at the NERL facility
during winter 2004, making it difficult to
maintain comfortable temperatures in
those spaces. Areas adjacent to these
offices had to compensate with higher
temperature set points, which disrupted
the HVAC balance and caused the sys-
tem to use more energy. In April 2004,
NERL began working with the building
owner to design 23 fan-powered
perimeter air terminals, which NERL
                      NERL Facility Manager
                      Bob Beane.
installed in October
2004. The fans enhanced
heat distribution in the
perimeter offices, im-
proving both tempera-
ture control and energy
efficiency.
   During this upgrade,
NERL also  connected
the primary office HVAC
system to  several rooms
that were  previously
heated and cooled by less-efficient indi-
vidual HVAC units. Beane and NERL facili-
ty management staff continued to
monitor building performance through-
out FY 2005, finding additional opportu-
nities to improve energy efficiency.
During a routine operations and mainte-
nance audit in February 2005, NERL dis-
covered that its gas boilers were wasting
energy by operating more pumps and
motors than required to meet the build-
         ing's heating demand. NERL
         found that defective sensors
         were to blame and replaced
         them to increase system effi-
         ciency. In June 2005, Beane
         began working with new
         onsite management to moni-
         tor HVAC performance on a
         daily basis and make adjust-
         ments to system set points
         according to outdoor air tem-
         peratures—actions that will
continue to improve efficiency and save
energy.
   Beane recently  received EPA's Btu
Buster Award in recognition of these
efforts to improve energy efficiency at
NERL, where energy use decreased from
25.2 billion British thermal units (BBtus)
in FY 2004 to 22.3 BBtus in FY 2005. For a
complete list of EPA Btu Buster Award
winners, visit .
Co-sponsor Helps Build Foundation, Future for Labsll Program
     Laboratories for the 21 st Century,
     or Labs21, has become a sustain-
     able resource for laboratory pro-
fessionals worldwide. In 2005, to help
the program, its conference, and other
education programs reach their full
potential, EPA and the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) solicited involvement
from a nonprofit organization that could
increase the program's effectiveness,
expand its reach, provide resources,
increase public awareness, and help to
ensure the program's continued success.
   In February 2006, the two agencies
named the International Institute for Sus-
tainable Laboratories (I2SL) as the Labs21
cosponsor. I2SL is a non-profit foundation
with a mission to develop worldwide
partnerships that promote sustainable
laboratory design, engineering, and
operational practices, and to address the
rapid pace of science, medicine, research,
and development in an ever-changing
and dynamic world. I2SL is coordinating
key components of the 2006 conference
in San Antonio, Texas, including registra-
tion, pre- and post-conference work-
shops and symposia, evening tours,
sponsorship opportunities, and the Tech-
nology and Services Fair.
   As for the program itself, EPA, DOE,
and I2SL hope to broaden and strength-
en Labs21—without additional resource
requirements from the federal govern-
ment—by focusing on additional issues
relevant to laboratory and high-tech
                                    facility sustainability and performance.
                                    In particular, I2SL plans to help EPA and
                                    DOE explore the role of renewable ener-
                                    gy in building design and how opera-
                                    tions and maintenance could potentially
                                    augment existing energy savings. Begin-
                                    ning with its strategic partners in Cana-
                                    da, Austria, and several others in the
                                    European Union, I2SL hopes to gain
                                    momentum for Labs21 within the inter-
                                    national laboratory community, learning
                                    what other countries are doing to pro-
                                    mote laboratory sustainability and shar-
                                    ing information with them.
                                       For more information on I2SL and the
                                    conference co-sponsorship, visit the
                                    organization's Web site at 
                                    or .

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                                    ENERGIZING EPA October 2006 |  page 6
EPA  Headquarters and Regional
Offices Boost Recycling  Efforts
       Across the country, EPA's regional
       offices are implementing innova-
       tive ideas to encourage and
increase office recycling.
   Region 1 is making every page count
with its paper reduction campaign. In
addition to encouraging duplex copying
and printing, the Boston office has
installed computer software that allows
paper-free faxing. The computer program
converts incoming faxes to electronic files
that can be received and viewed as e-mail
attachments. The software also allows
employees to send faxes directly from
their computers. The Region 1 office is
using "eScan"copy machines, which allow
employees to scan paper documents and
distribute them electronically via e-mail
instead of making hard copies. Facility
Manager Dave Austin noted that he is
encouraged by the success of the paper
usage reduction programs.
   At the Region 4 offices, all refrigerators
made prior to 1993 have been replaced
with more efficient ENERGY STAR® appli-
ances. ENERGY STAR qualified refrigerators
require approximately half the amount of
energy as older models  by using high effi-
ciency compressors, improved insulation,
and more precise temperature and defrost
mechanisms. To date, eight of the replaced
refrigerators have been  recycled, and
eight more were given away for reuse—
two to the building's Health Clinic. To recy-
cle the refrigerators, Gary Hosmer, of the
Office of Policy and Management, rented a
truck and delivered the appliances to a
local recycler, where approximately 98
percent of the materials were recovered,
including  metal, glass, plastic, and oil. In
addition, hazardous materials such as mer-
cury and PCBs were properly disposed.
   Taking a different approach to keeping
paper out of the waste stream, Region 5 is
promoting a completely closed-loop
paper recycling system. With an aggres-
sive goal of increasing recycling by 200
percent, the regional office is teaming up
with the General Services Administration
in the Metcalfe Federal Building in Chica-
go to collect office paper that is then recy-
cled into tissue and towels  used in Region
5 facilities. The paper recycling program
has expanded from solely the EPA office to
the entire building, thanks to its coordina-
tor and creator Rich Hoffman. Hoffman,
Region 5's recycling coordinator who
recently won EPA's Pollution Prevention
(P2) award for his efforts, stresses the
importance of including other tenants
when implementing recycling programs.
In addition to his work with the closed-
loop system,  Hoffman has instituted a
recycling orientation program for new
employees.
   EPA's Region 6 office in  Dallas, Texas, is
home to the "Bulb Eater," a machine that
crushes used fluorescent light bulbs and
safely removes all of the mercury gas con-
tained inside. Crescent Real Estate, the
Region 6 building owner, collects all of the
bulbs used in the building.  The Bulb Eater
crushes them while activated carbon fil-
ters capture and neutralize  the potentially
harmful mercury gas and vapors inside.
This process reduces the bulbs to clean,
crushed glass ready to be recycled. The
crushed bulbs are then stored in 55-gallon
drums and shipped to a recycling facility
in Florida. Region 6's facility manager, Lisa
Bokun, praised the recycling system, not-
ing  that she looks forward to working in
cooperation with the environmental man-
agement system (EMS) team to seek out
new opportunities to improve office recy-
cling in Region 6.
   Through these efforts and many oth-
ers, EPA's regional offices are leading the
way with their environmentally conscien-
tious ideas and serve as noteworthy mod-
els for other offices across the country. For
more information on EPA's recycling best
practices, contact Gail Wray at (202) 564-
7683.
 Events Not to  Miss!

 Labs21 2006 Annual Confer-
 ence
 October 17-19, 2006
 San Antonio, Texas
 For more information, visit
 .

 National Recycling Coalition
 Annual Congress
 October 22-26, 2006
 Atlanta, Georgia
 For more information, visit
 .

 Advanced Facilities Engineer-
 ing Conference
 November 8-9, 2006
 Denver, Colorado
 For more information, visit
 .

 Brownfields 2006
 November 13-15, 2006
 Boston, Massachusetts
 For more information, visit
 .
       Contact Us
   For more information about
Energizing EPA or the activities of
   EPA's Sustainable Facilities
Practices Branch in the Facilities
   Management and Services
    Division, please contact:
       Marjorie Buchanan
           E-mail:
 buchanan.marjorie@epa.gov
    Phone: (202) 564-8206
          Website:
  www.epa.gov/greeningepa

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