# Presentation: 122157

## Going Green An Overview of New Requirements for Sustainable Facility Design and Construction

**NIH – Office of Research Facilities**
**Development and Operations**

**Notes:**
Welcome and thanks for coming today!  

Hopefully we will be able to provide some insights into how we can all green the NIH and why that is important.

## What is sustainable or green design?

*  ****“******To ******significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of buildings on the environment and on the building occupants******, green building design and construction practices address: sustainable site planning, safeguarding water and water efficiency, energy efficiency, conservation of materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality.”****   *
- ---U.S. Green Building Council

**Notes:**
I want to make certain we are all talking about the same thing when we use the term sustainable or green in relations to our buildings.

It covers not only the design and construction of our buildings but also the operations and maintenance.  

We can see many benefits including providing healthier spaces for NIH staff and what better reason do we need? 

## New Mandates for Sustainable Design

**Statutes:** *Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005*
**Memorandum of Understanding:**  *Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings*
*(Not the same as LEED)*
- Signed by HHS January 24, 2006
**Executive Order:** 13423
- Signed by President on January 26, 2007
- http://www.fedcenter.gov/programs/eo13423/
**OMB Energy and Environmental Scorecards **
**HHS Policy**
- Signed September 8, 2006
**HHS Implementation Plan**
- Signed December 2006;  Updated December 2007

**Notes:**
As with many initiatives there are several documents urging us to climb the mountain in greening our spaces. The MOU listed here was signed by many of the Departments and the Federal Environmental Executive working for the President.

## Department of Health and Human Services PolicyEffective September 8, 2006

- Requires compliance with MOU guiding principles AND certification of projects
- OpDivs determine specific design requirements and specifications
- OpDivs also determine certification level (basic, silver, gold, platinum)
- Policy reviewed annually.

**Notes:**
The Department has also developed guidance and is looking to NIH and the other HHS operating divisions to develop some of the specifics

## Green Design Requirements(Guiding Principles from MOU)

**Green Design Requirements**(Guiding Principles from MOU)

**Employ Integrated Design Principles**
**Optimize Energy Performance**
**Protect and Conserve Water**
**Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)**
**Reduce Environmental Impact of Materials**
**Conformance with Local Environmental Requirements**

**Notes:**
The MOU and subsequently the HHS policy cover these six main areas for our projects for new construction, renovations and leases

## I. Employ Integrated Design Principles

- Use collaborative, integrated design process in all stages (IPT)
- Establish performance goals
- Consider all stages of building life cycle including deconstruction
- Use total building commissioning practices to verify performance

**Notes:**
I can not emphasis enough the importance of working as a team to develop goals and determine the features which can be applied for each specific project

## II. Optimize Energy Performance

**Energy Efficiency**
- Establish whole building performance target.
- Reduce energy cost budget by 30% compared with baseline rating per ASHRAE and IESNA standards.
- For renovations, reduce energy cost budget by 20% below pre-renovation
**Measurement and Verification**
- Install building level utility meters
- Track and optimize actual performance data from first year against targets
- Enter data and lessons learned in database

**Notes:**
Energy efficiency is one of the key areas and here at the NIH we are well on our way. Overall the NIH has reduced energy intensity 26.1%  since 2003.  Even with this great improvement utility cost continue to skyrocket.  We need to continue maximizing our energy conservation efforts.

## III. Protect and Conserve Water

- Indoor water – employ strategies to reduce potable water use by 20% over calculated baseline for bldg.
- Outdoor water – use water efficient landscaping, recycle water, reduce storm water runoff and pollution.

**Notes:**
We need to also consider how we manage our water resources using low flow fixtures and beneficial landscaping.  We spent considerable money on restoring the NIH creek recently and that was due to poor practices of the past eroding the creek bed.

Despite a spring which brought above average rainfall in March and April of 2007, the summer proved to be extremely dry, resulting in record or near record drought conditions. These conditions contributed to several notable algal blooms and fish kills throughout the Chesapeake Bay area. 

## IV. Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)

- Ventilation and Thermal Comfort – meet ASHRAE Std. 55-2004
- Moisture Control – establish control strategy
- Daylighting – achieve specified daylight factor
-  Specify low-emitting materials
- Protect indoor air quality during construction – follow recommendations of SMACC Indoor Air Quality Guidelines for Occupied Buildings Under Construction AND minimum 72-hour flush out after.

**Notes:**
How about built space?  Do you want to work in a dark box with poor air circulation?  Wow what a concept bright cheery open spaces which foster teamwork.
Several of our recently renovated spaces in building 13 are good starts to providing healthier work spaces.

## V. Reduce Environmental Impact of Materials

- Meet or exceed EPA recycled content recommendations  _[http://www.epa.gov/cpg/index.htm](http://www.epa.gov/cpg/index.htm)_
- Meet or exceed USDA biobased content recommendations _[http://](http://ofee.gov/gp/bioprod.asp)__[ofee.gov/gp/bioprod.asp](http://ofee.gov/gp/bioprod.asp)_
- Increase recycling of construction waste
- Eliminate use of ozone depleting chemicals

**Notes:**
Hey let’s not forget recycling and reducing throwaway materials.  Can we get the manufacturer or distributor to take their packaging back?  We can actually save $ by just limiting the amount of materials we add to our waste stream.  We recently recycled over 90% of Building 36, a good example of how this can be accomplished.

## VI. Conformance with Local Environmental Requirements

- National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) - *design in compliance with process*
- Other Applicable Environmental Regulations – *design/construction in compliance*
- Environmental Baseline Survey -*Identifies Contamination concerns*
- Environmental Management System – *Meets established goals from local EMS*
- Asset Management Planning - *design in compliance with plan*

**Notes:**
We must not overlook our environmental and safety  requirements!  Again teamwork is the key

## Applicability of HHS Certification Requirements

**ALL Projects – New Construction, Improvements and Leases**
_*Apply Guiding Principles to maximum extent feasible.*_
**New Construction**
- Certify projects with total cost
-      Equal to or greater than $1 million
**Improvement and Repair Projects**
- Certify projects with total cost
-      Equal to or greater than $3 million

**Notes:**
So Dan your telling me we have to send every project to HHS for approval??  No that’s not the case in fact very few projects will actually be scrutinized.  We still need to incorporate these concepts into our construction projects where possible.  Not only because we have an overall goal to meet but because it makes for healthier, more efficient spaces where people want to work.

## Executive Order 13423: Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management

**Combines multiple previous Executive Orders**
***Requires***** all agencies to meet MOU Guiding Principles** in:
- All new construction and renovations AND
- By end of FY 2015 at least 15% of the inventory of existing buildings must comply.

**Notes:**
Not only must the larger $ projects meet these requirements but also many of our smaller projects to achieve our overall goal.

## HHS PolicyAcceptable Certification Systems

**Two certification and rating systems may be used:**
- U.S. Green Building Council’s *Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design* (LEEDTM)
- OR
- Green Building Initiative’s *Green Globes*
**Fees for certification to be included in project budget**

**Notes:**
We have two options for certification where required and we will learn about the LEED system later this morning.  You will find references to the Green Globes initiative in the reference slides.

## Role of NEMS in Sustainability Initiatives

**NEMS (NIH Environmental Management System) Working Groups –**
- Set goals and targets
- Monitor progress
- Coordinate with HHS:
- NEMS working groups include all NIH representatives on the HHS Working Group
**Division of Environmental Protection –**
- Provides contractor support to working groups and compliance assistance.
- Provides outreach and training

## References:Federal Regulations, Guidance and Policy

**HHS Implementation Plan - **
- _[http://](http://www.hhs.gov/asam/ofmp/SustainableBldgsImpPlan.pdf)__[www.hhs.gov/asam/ofmp/SustainableBldgsImpPlan.pdf](http://www.hhs.gov/asam/ofmp/SustainableBldgsImpPlan.pdf)_
***Comprehensive listings may be found on these websites:***
**	****FedCenter**
- _[http://](http://www.fedcenter.gov/programs/greenbuildings/)__[www.fedcenter.gov/programs/greenbuildings](http://www.fedcenter.gov/programs/greenbuildings/)_/
**	****Office of the Federal Environmental Executive**
- _[http://](http://www.ofee.gov/sb/sb.htm)__[www.ofee.gov/sb/sb.htm](http://www.ofee.gov/sb/sb.htm)_

## References:Supporting Information and Tools

**Energy Star for New Building Design**
- http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=new_bldg_design.new_bldg_design
**Green Building Initiative; Green Globes**
- http://www.thegbi.org/gbi/
**Green Guide for Health Care**
- http://www.gghc.org/.
**Greening Federal Facilities**
- http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/29267.pdf
**Hospitals for a Healthy Environment**
- http://www.h2e-online.org/
**Labs for the 21****st**** Century**
- http://www.labs21century.gov/
**U. S. Green Building Council: **
**	****Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)**
- http://www.usgbc.org/
**Whole Building Design Guide**
- http://wbdg.org/

## References:HHS and NIH Policies and Guidelines

**HHS Office of Facilities Management and Policy**
- http://www.hhs.gov/asam/ofmp/index.html
**HHS Facilities Program Manual – Sustainable Design**
- http://www.hhs.gov/asam/ofmp/Vol1CH3PlanDesignConsid.pdf
**HHS Sustainable Buildings Implementation Plan **
- http://www.hhs.gov/asam/ofmp/SustainableBldgsImpPlan.pdf
**HHS Policy for Sustainable and High Performance Buildings**
- http://www.hhs.gov/asam/ofmp/hiperfbldngpol.pdf
**NIH Office Fit-Out Guidelines**
- http://www.nems.nih.gov/aspects/sus_facilities/Revised_NIH_Office_Fitout_Guidelines_071506.pdf
**NIH Environmental Management System – Sustainable Facilities**
- http://www.nems.nih.gov/aspects/sus_facilities/

## Questions??