by Jbs071808 d3 — July 21, 2008—The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) James Forrestal Headquarters Building was certified as an Energy Star building by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on July 9, making it only the second building in Washington, DC, to have earned the Energy Star ranking. It is also the second DOE facility to be recognized, joining DOE’s other headquarters facility in Germantown, MD, which earned the Energy Star certification in 2002.
The Forrestal Building reportedly uses 40% less energy than the average office building, a difference of 28 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Its energy-saving features include energy-efficient lighting and LED lights in numerous applications; energy-efficient motors in the air-handling equipment; high-efficiency chilled- and hot-water pumps; automated heating, ventilation, and air conditioning control systems; and local area networks that are consolidated into central computing rooms.
In order to earn an Energy Star rating, commercial buildings must demonstrate low utility usage of electricity, natural gas, and steam, while maintaining good indoor air quality at comfortable temperatures. Buildings are scored on a scale of 1 to 100, with buildings ranking higher than 75 being eligible for an Energy Star rating. The Forrestal Building received a ranking of 88.
According to the US Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), the federal government is the largest single user of energy in the US, and DOE is the second largest energy consumer of all civilian federal agencies. To learn more about DOE’s Transformational Energy Action Management (TEAM) Initiative, visit the agency’s Web site.
