National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Estimated Annual Savings: $1.2MM and 35,652MMBtu

Project Highlights

  • Reduce annual electricity usage by 10.4MM kWh

  • Electrify all natural gas heating at the Flatirons campus 

  • Reduce annual water usage by 660,000 Gal and by 14% at Flatirons Campus

  • Reduce overall energy consumption by 18% at Flatirons Campus and 18% at STM Campus (expected)

  • Project was selected for a 2022 AFFECT Grant

Energy Conservation Measures

  • Full electrification of natural gas heating at the Flatirons Campus

  • SmartLab upgrades & conversion of laboratory ventilation systems from CAV to VAV

  • Installation of a pilot microgrid 

  • Retro-commissioning of dis-repaired solar PV systems 

  • HVAC controls improvements

  • LED retrofits and networked lighting controls 

  • Domestic water upgrades

  • Weatherization improvements and installation of window film

NREL: South Table Mountain Campus. (Photo by Josh Bauer, NREL)

Background

In August 2023, CEG was awarded a project to electrify the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Flatirons Campus in Arvada, CO. This project will eliminate the use of natural gas heating at the Flatirons Campus. The project also will increase resiliency in multiple facilities by providing 2N redundancy to heating systems. 

In addition to electrifying the site’s natural gas heating system, CEG will upgrade the campus’s building envelope, domestic water fixtures, and controls systems. Collectively these upgrades will reduce campus energy consumption by 18% and water consumption by 14%. 

The project will cost-effectively enhance site resilience, advance several NREL goals related to decarbonization and infrastructure renewal, and align with recent Executive Orders aimed at addressing the climate crisis. In particular, this project addresses Executive Orders 13990, 14008, and 14057 in protecting public health, tackling the climate crisis, and catalyzing America’s clean energy economy through federal sustainability.

CEG is currently developing a second phase to be implemented at the South Table Mountain (STM) campus. This phase is expected to include the conversion of constant air volume (CAV) laboratory ventilation systems to variable air volume (VAV), implementation of a pilot microgrid, replacement of a UPS, retro-commissioning and long-term preventative maintenance on disrepaired solar PV systems, and upgrades to controls, HVAC equipment, lab ventilation, lighting and controls, and building envelope.

Unique Challenge and Approach

NREL has aggressive goals for campus electrification, particularly for the Flatirons campus. To help NREL make progress towards these goals, CEG added the electrification of Flatirons into the ESPC project and expedited its development. This resulted in a phased project – one phase focused on the Flatirons campus, and one phase focused on the STM campus. CEG also expedited the development of a subset of other measures – domestic water upgrades, controls upgrades at Flatirons, and building envelope upgrades at Flatirons – to leverage the cost savings and therefore reduce the amount of buydown required by NREL to complete the electrification project. During the design phase, CEG created an expedited “release of material package” to allow for earlier purchasing of schedule-critical equipment (such as air source heat pumps and electrical panels), and therefore shorten the duration of implementation.