The Colorado Springs Utilities Environmental Services Laboratory is attractive and a low energy consumer. The utility bills for this building cost $50,000 less per year than the previous CSU laboratory building.

Credit: Colorado Springs Utilities

Institutional Buildings Category
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU) opened a brand new Environmental Services Laboratory in Colorado Spring in May 2005. It is the first laboratory building in Colorado to obtain the LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Buildings Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental design (LEED).

	Energy Savings
	Use of Renewable Energy
	Materials
	Project Team

Usually laboratory buildings are large energy consumers because they are designed to ensure the safety of the people working in them, and not usually for energy efficiency. They circulate large volumes of fresh air from outside through the building to dilute and expel any potential airborne hazards. Heating and cooling this outside air results in high energy costs.

Energy Savings

The CSU laboratory building proves that not every laboratory has to be a large energy consumer. In fact, this new laboratory building will cost $50,000 less per year to operate than the utility's previous facility. Through these energy savings, the CSU Environmental Services Laboratory will prevent emissions of 964,700 pounds of carbon dioxide every year.

Because of the energy features of the Environmental Services Laboratory, Colorado Springs Utilities will:

• Consume 26 percent less energy than a building built to the standards of local energy codes.
• Save 30 percent on energy bills.
• Save 44 percent on water bills for plumbing fixtures and 55 percent on non-potable water bills for exterior landscaping.

The Environmental Services Laboratory features a number of energy-efficient features. The building takes advantage of heat recovery that pre-heats outside air in winter and pre-cools it in the summer with energy from exhaust air. There is an evaporative cooler that pre-cools outside air in hot weather and eliminates the need to operate the chiller altogether in moderate weather. The building uses high-efficiency motors on all equipment such as fans, pumps, and compressors.

 

The new CSU laboratory building uses architecture and new technology to bring daylight to interior spaces. Here a three-story light well brings light deep into the building and adds drama to the interior design.

Credit: Colorado Springs Utilities

Use of Renewable Energy

The Environmental Services Laboratory contains a sophisticated electrical system that is built around taking maximum advantage of natural light. The design of the building allows daylight to enter into the office spaces throughout the building. On the southern wall, light shelves bring daylight directly into interior offices and test laboratories. In these rooms, photo sensors continuously control dimmable ballasts that reduce electrical lighting when daylight is present. Electrical lighting consists of high-efficiency T5 fluorescent fixtures and compact fluorescent lights. The total lighting load of the building is a miserly 1.14 watts per square foot.

The laboratory is oriented along the east-west axis in order to take advantage of passive solar design. Light shelves are located above south-facing windows to reduce direct solar energy gain through these windows in summertime.

Materials

In addition, 58 percent of the construction waste was recycled, and 63 percent of the construction materials used in the project were available locally from within 500 miles of the project.
The building features:

• Low-e glass with a low shading coefficient in all windows.
• Insulation value of R-30 in the roof.
• Insulation value of R-20 in the exterior walls.

Cabinets are constructed of wheat board, which is made of wheat straw and glue. Wheat board is considered to be an environmentally friendly source of fiber because if is obtained from existing agricultural operations.

The building takes advantage of recycled glass in the wall tiles of the restrooms. And marmoleum is used for flooring. Marmoleum is a natural product made from linseed oil, wood flour, rosin, jute, and limestone.

CRES 2006 Vice President Doug Seiter awards members of the project team the 2006 Colorado Renewable Energy in Buildings Award.

Project Team

The winning project team consisted of the design team and the owner:

• Colorado Springs Utilities, Colorado Springs; building owner.
• RNL Design, Denver; architect.
• Gerald H. Phipps, general contractor.
• RMH Group, mechanical and electrical engineers.
• Ambient Energy, energy and sustainability consultant.