Integrating Sustainable Design Principals Into Both a New Lab Building and a 25-year Campus Plan at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Nancy Carlisle, AIA and Otto Van Geet, P.E., National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Abstract:

The design of a new lab building for our campus, the Science and Technology Facility (S&TF), one of the labs for the 21st century pilot projects, became the catalyst for initiating a process at NREL to develop a 25 year general development plan for our campus. During a design charrette for the S&TF that focused on improving the sustainability of the building, we also rethought the context for the new building and in the process developed a site vision that captured the imagination of our executive management. That vision provided the starting point to begin to develop an overall general development plan for our campus.

The paper will cover both the process to incorporate sustainable design features in the building's design and the campus planning to date. Both of these are works in progress. For the building design, the process to select the A/E will be covered, the process working with the users and the design team as well as the sustainable design features incorporated so far. The presentation will also cover the campus planning process including the importance of establishing organizational expectations, goals and strategies; how we plan to build consensus within our organization and our process to hire an outside planning firm. The presentation will also covered lessons learned to date in the design of the lab and in campus planning.

Biography:

Nancy Carlisle is a Senior Project Leader in the Deployment Program's Office at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). She provides support to the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) primarily in the area of renewable energy technologies and sustainable design. She has worked at NREL for 20 years. She holds masters degrees in both Architecture and Urban Planning.

Otto Van Geet is currently the Senior Mechanical Engineer in the Site Operations group at NREL, where he has worked on the planning, design, construction and operation of facilities for the past 9 years. Prior to joining NREL, he was a Mechanical Engineer for Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for 11 years. Mr. Van Geet has been involved in the design, construction, and operation of energy efficient R&D facilities for microelectronics, photovoltaic, thermal, and biological research, as well as office and general use facilities. This has included integrated building design of clean rooms, supply, exhaust, heat recovery and treatment systems, process gas systems, safety systems, drain systems, fire protection systems, central heating and cooling plants, lighting systems, and control systems. Experience also includes passive solar building design, use of design tools, photovoltaic system design, energy audits, and minimizing energy use. He designed and built an off-the-electric-grid PV power passive solar home in Colorado in which he and his family live. Mr. Van Geet is a Registered Professional Engineer, a Certified Energy Manager by the Association of Energy Engineers, and has been designated a Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute. He received a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of New Mexico and an A.A.S. degree in Air Conditioning Technology from the State University of New York.