Use of solar energy to create a sustainable office park in Denver

Sustainability

The project was conceived to help meet the Denver Federal Center’s vision and goal to be “the most sustainable campus in the country by 2020”.

The Denver Federal Center (DFC) is a 600-acre secured Federal facility located in the city of Lakewood, Colorado. It is operated by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The DFC was acquired in 1941 by the U.S. government and is currently used for office, research, and administrative purposes by 26 Federal agencies. There are approximately 50 active buildings and 6,000 on-site employees at the DFC. GSA is striving to make this facility the most sustainable business park in the country and pursues opportunities for sustainable development while actively employing sustainable management practices.

This project takes advantage of the plentiful solar energy available in Colorado and the opportunity that Colorado voters provided through the passage of Amendment 37 (Colorado voters passed Amendment 37, Renewable Energy Requirement, in 2004) which created a renewable energy standard for large electric utilities. This project will also help the DFC meet its obligations under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Executive Orders 13432 (Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management) and GSA’s energy reduction goals.

The project is a one-megawatt photovoltaic solar array. It is composed of 6,192 solar panels mounted in fixed rows, facing south and tilted 20 degrees. The rows occupy a six-acre site and the energy production is estimated at 1.6 million kWh (Kilowatt hours) of electricity and renewable energy credits per year.

This project was initiated in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP) from the utility company, Xcel Energy, of Colorado. The project goal was to produce and sell the renewable energy credits from a one-megawatt solar array to the utility company while utilizing the power produced to reduce utility power demand at the DFC. The power produced during the sunny parts of the day from the solar array will reduce the DFC’s peak power demand by about 10 percent. This project, while making good financial sense, is also helping the DFC campus become more sustainable and reduces its reliance on fossil fuel. The reduced reliance on fossil fuel as a result of this project results in a measurable reduction in carbon emissions.

This design-build project (design build is a design and construction process wherein a single entity is hired to perform both architectural design and construction services) was completed in six months and went online January 4, 2008. SunEdison, of Beltsville, Maryland, was the design-build contractor who performed the work.

After six months online, the solar array is performing better than expected. More power has been produced than anticipated and this will reduce the project payback period and reduce the need for coal-generated electrical power. An interpretive path with educational waysides (roadside areas for stopping) has been installed adjacent to the array to inform visitors of the projects details and objectives. Educational tours of the facility for school groups, business groups, and the interested public are regularly scheduled and have been highly successful in displaying the project’s successful performance. A public access web site is being developed to display the power produced and power production history along with information on the components and the physics behind solar power production.

Contact:
Douglas Porter
Program Manager
Denver Federal Center Service Center
Public Buildings Service,
Rocky Mountain Region
U.S. General Services Administration
douglas.porter@gsa.gov

This is a Federal best practice submitted to the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Real Property Management for competition in the GSA Innovative/Best Practices Achievement Award.