SmithGroup’s Renewable Energy Facility Achieves LEED Platinum

by Tracy Ostroff
Associate Editor

How do you . . . create an appropriately green environment for a group immersed in energy research?

Summary: The SmithGroup-designed Science & Technology Facility at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., is the first federal building to receive a LEED® platinum rating. The design team collaborated closely with the building users—themselves cultivators of renewable and green technologies—to achieve their sustainability goals and create a building that would inform the scientists’ research.

Dedicated in August 2006, the 71,000-square-foot, multi-story facility houses solar, basic science, and hydrogen research. Mike Medici, AIA, president of SmithGroup’s Phoenix office, notes that many energy-saving design innovations start from the ground up. To preserve the natural ecosystem and reduce the overall footprint, the structure evolved from a one-story facility to a stepped, multi-story structure. The building’s orientation, window placement, and clerestory glazing moderate energy consumption while providing abundant natural light to the offices and laboratories. Additional sun-control elements, such as brises-soleils and other horizontal shading fins, further conserve energy.

SmithGroup's engineers also specified state-of-the-art mechanical systems—reduced lighting power density, automated lighting controls, and under-floor air systems—which reduces energy consumption by more than 40 percent as compared to similar new federal buildings. Close coordination with project team members ensured that 11 percent of the building materials were derived from recycled materials, 27 percent of the construction material was manufactured within 500 miles of the building site, and 80 percent of construction waste was diverted from landfills.

Relating to the site
“You can see how far we’ve come,” Medici says of the NREL campus. The architects took their cues from the existing campus building, but then raised the bar that much higher to be sensitive to the lessons that architects have learned over the last 10-15 years. For example, they specified an exterior made of local stone to match the colors and the materials of the surrounding landscape.

Referring to the metal cladding in the entry cone of the new facility, Medici says, “We did it very sensitively and moderated how much really was there. This building does grow out of the earth even more so than the other buildings.” Even the lack of plantings is a nod to the building site. “It’s going to be all natural brush. There’s water harvesting, which they are using for natural irrigation of the site,” Medici explains.

The team is proud that these techniques were kind to both the environment and the bottom line.
“The cost per square foot is so low for a project of this complexity, that we reached a platinum rating,” Medici says. The one regret is that they could not afford photovoltaics. Still, he is hopeful that the movement toward renewable energy will spark greater interest and funding for the technology. “They couldn’t get a dime during our design process, but now they’re starting to get more funding.”

Collaboration equals success
“It was a collaborative effort, and that’s what’s made the building successful,” says SmithGroup Associate Michael Krager, AIA. “Understanding their needs and requirements for daylighting and energy efficiency were all pieces that were developed based on their experience.”

The architects would spend a week at a time at the site. “We would cut out little working components like a square footage block and arrange those so they could see their building form in front of them,” explains Krager. Physical models, along with hand-sketches and 3-D modeling, help users see the adjacencies and visualize the overall building design. “It also helps the users take ownership and understand the building design and how it evolved,” Krager says. “We were trying to use the technologies that they develop and the concepts that they think about in their building design.”

Good problems to have
Medici notes some of the lessons they learned though the NREL process and how they relate to other energy-conscious projects. “Even when you have a very successful daylighting project that reflects light into the building from 10 to 2 to provide 100 percent lighting, we’re not all quite used to that in our psyche. Even though it’s the appropriate foot candles and we’re using task lighting, we’re finding people are adding more light than they need.”

Under-floor mechanical systems like the one at the NREL building also require a learning and attitude adjustment curve. “This is so low temperature you don’t feel it and it doesn’t make any noises…Sometimes that can be something you need to get used to: quiet. We haven’t had to do this here, but we have heard of installations where they have added white noise. These are things that are wonderful,” Medici concludes.