Finding a Solution

Energy efficient design does not only apply to new construction, but can also be carried over into existing buildings through renovations. The Ortlieb's Bottling House is an outstanding example of turning an old beer bottling building into an architecture firm, and doing it in a way that applies modern day energy efficient design. In this case, I turn my focus to the NREL Research Support Facility in Golden, CO. This award winning 360,000 square-foot Class A office building approached the design and construction as a scope to study alternative options to large development. The building utilizes solar collectors to passively preheat the outside air and thermal storage through concrete s structures in crawl spaces. 70 miles of radiant pipes were installed into the floors to provide hydroponic heating. The building also switched over into extensive use of laptops and other high efficiency office equipment to reduce plug loads. These installments make for a very energy friendly, green building. However, projects at a massive scale such as this one are very expensive, requiring accurate figures on construction and long term usage cost. To help mitigate the up front costs, NREL produced a Power Purchase Agreement in which the PV system is constructed, owned and serviced by a third party. Hopeful, other projects follow similar solutions to deal with these demanding costs to build green.

http://rnldesign.com/projects/national-renewable-energy-laboratory-nrel-research-support-facility/ (accessed February 27,2019)