**[New England Solar - It's the Right Thing to Do]{.underline}**

**\# S-3-07**

*Public Buildings Service New England Region*

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[\"New Solar Roof for Murphy Federal Record Center\"]{.mark}

The Frederick C. Murphy Federal Center in Waltham, MA is home to the
Northeast Region Archives. The National Archives is the U.S.
Government's collection of documents that records important events in
American history. The National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) preserve and maintain these materials and make them available for
research.

The GSA Energy Center of Expertise, Office of Applied Science and
Technology had been looking to demonstrate new off the shelf renewable
energy technology. They were looking for a facility within the GSA
inventory nationally, that met the criteria of 1) need 2) size and 3)
site (solar availability). The Murphy Federal Record Center fit all the
stated criteria; the existing roof had exceeded its system useful life.
Failure of this roof system could result in loss of irreplaceable
Federal documents. It also met the size criteria; at 144,000 sq. ft, it
was large enough to demonstrate the use of the large flat flexible
amorphous silicon panels. Solar tracking is good; the roof area is in
full sun, all day, with no shading.

The new roofing system needed to be of the highest durability to help
preserve the NARA's mission, and would need to provide the latest in
Energy Star (EPA) cool roof technology to maximize system payback
through energy savings, per Executive Order 13423 and National Energy
Policy Act of 2005.

The finished BIPV roof system has provided the NARA with unequaled
protection of documents. The addition of a vapor barrier and added
insulation has eliminated constant cycling of boilers and chillers to
achieve the required precise humidity levels. The new roof has
eliminated air stratification and provides unmatched space conditioning
and air quality. The roof itself generates most of the needed
electricity during daylight hours: the Integrated BIPV solar roofing
system consists of a series of 10 x 40 foot solar electric roof panels
-- each of which has 12 flexible photovoltaic modules factory laminated
to the surface of the membrane. These panels are then hot-air welded to
Sarnafil EnergySmart Roof membrane and wired to the building's
electrical system.

This project also practiced construction waste management and the use of
recycled content materials. In total, 105 tons of stone ballast and 15
tons of insulating material were recycled. The new membrane is
manufactured with 100% recycled content product at a plant 15 miles from
the Waltham building limiting energy consumption in material transport.
These facts dovetail nicely with the NARA's own recycling program which
recycles enough destroyed documents, to effectively save an estimated
300,000 trees per year.

The Record Center has become a touch point for education of countless,
visitors, researchers, engineers, school children and educators by way
of the public information kiosk in the lobby. The kiosk provides a
virtual tour and real time information about the generation output from
the array, educates the public.

**Contact**

James E. Devir

Chief, Facilities Management Branch 1PCF

GSA Public Buildings Service, Property Development

james.devir@gsa.gov