Integrated Team Incorporates Sustainable Design into RFP

Greg Herman and Kim Fowler, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Abstract:

The U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has recently developed a Request for Proposals (RFP) for acquisition of a new research building combining laboratory, computer, and office space. The RFP was a significant departure from business as usual at the Laboratory, and supported the Laboratory's new commitment to sustainable design of all new buildings. The RFP was developed by an integrated team of subject matter experts coupled with facility design experts. It was designed to provide a building that will meet the needs of the future occupants, meet our sustainable design goals, and incorporate the future vision of the PNNL campus. We propose to share the lessons learned from this process and highlights of the resulting RFP.

PNNL, operated by Battelle Memorial Institute, is located in Richland, Washington with 3500 employees working on environmental, energy and national security business for government and private industry clients. PNNL's Facilities Strategic Plan, Energy Management Plan and its Master Site Plan use sustainable design principles as the cornerstone for future design. The proposed building will house approximately 300 scientists and engineers working on DOE's Environmental and Biotechnology research initiatives. The building will provide approximately 100,000 gross square feet of space including raised computer floor, office space, and laboratories.

Biographies:

Greg A. Herman has a B.S. in civil engineering from Washington State University and will complete his Master of Sciences in Business Administration in June 2003. He worked as a civil engineer early in his career, but has spent the majority of his career working in the Facilities and Operations field. He has 14 years of experience in a multitude of roles within the Facilities and Operations field.

Greg is currently employed by Battelle at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory as a Program Manager. He is working on the development of performance specifications for various proposed facilities, specifically, the latest development being the Computational and Analytical Sciences Building. The department he is part of is responsible for the development of requirements, engineering and design solutions, construction, and commissioning new and existing projects. He has spent time in the Strategic Planning organization for the Laboratory, along with time in operations, space management, project management and capital planning.

Kim Fowler has a master's degree in Environmental Engineering from Washington State University and a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Business Administration from Pacific Lutheran University. As a Senior Research Engineer at Battelle's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Kim specializes in the areas of Sustainable Design, Life Cycle Analysis, and Pollution Prevention. She works for private industry and government clients performing investigative research, evaluating processes to identify efficiencies, and assessing the environmental, social and economic consequences of process, product, and facility designs. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Washington State University in the Environmental Science and Engineering Departments.

Kim is currently the Pollution Prevention Coordinator at Pacific Northwest in addition to her research project work. She was technical lead in the development of EDGEã, a software tool that aids in environmentally conscious design. EDGEã contains over 250 opportunities for incorporating sustainability into facility design. She co-authored the handbook Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessments for Research & Development Laboratories (Battelle Press), and chapters in the Handbook of Complex Environmental Remediation Problems (McGraw-Hill) and Unfolding Stakeholder Thinking (Greenleaf Publishing).