Construction slated for NREL energy facility

GOLDEN — The National Renewable Energy Laboratory will begin construction in spring 2011 on the 175,000-square-foot Energy Systems Integration Facility in Golden.

The project team includes architectural firm SmithGroup based in Michigan and general contractor JE Dunn Construction Group Inc., based in Kansas City, Mo., with offices in Denver and Boulder.

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Housing labs and offices for up to 250 researchers and support staff, the $135 million facility will support megawatt-scale testing of all components and strategies for deploying renewable energy and other energy-efficiency technologies into the electric grid.

The building will include a high-performance computing and data center that will expand NREL’s capabilities in modeling and simulation of renewable energy technologies and their integration into the existing energy infrastructure.

Researchers will engineer, design, test and analyze components and systems to enable economic, reliable integration of renewable electricity, fuel production, storage and building efficiency technologies with the U.S. electricity delivery infrastructure.

The multistory building will be located to the east of the existing Science and Technology Facility on the NREL campus.

The project will be designed and constructed to meet a LEED Gold sustainable design certification. Completion is expected in late 2012.

“We are proud to be a part of this project that will significantly support NREL’s research and development efforts and look forward to this one-of-a-kind opportunity,” said Rodd Merchant, vice president and design-build manager for JE Dunn.

Other projects

NREL’s South Table Mountain campus and National Wind Technology Center will be busy with construction activity for the foreseeable future.

Construction is under way on the Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility in Golden. It will expand NREL’s capabilities to develop new cellulosic ethanol technologies. The facility will allow the researchers to work simultaneously on multiple projects with multiple partners. Construction is scheduled to be completed this year.

The laboratory moved into the new Research Support Facility June 9 after more than 16 months of construction

The 222,000-square-foot facility is a model for sustainable, high-performance building design, and will provide Department of Energy-owned work space for administrative staff who currently occupy leased space in the nearby Denver West Office Park.

It makes substantial use of daylighting, reducing energy use and providing a pleasant and productive working environment.