by Shane Henson — October 17, 2011—NASA’s Ames Research Center and the Department of Energy (DOE) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California are collaborating on technologies and processes for what may be the “greenest,” highest-performing building in the federal government.
Originally developed for aerospace applications, NASA intelligent system software will be installed in the new building, called Sustainability Base, by Ames engineers. These NASA-developed control and integrated systems health management technologies will be an integral part of the building. To help integrate these “smart system” technologies, the Building Technologies Department at Berkeley Lab developed a building information model (BIM) to serve as the repository for the building’s systems information during its life cycle. Using data from the BIM, Berkeley Lab developed an energy-performance simulation model to optimize the building’s energy operations.
When considering the design of this new office building, Ames used the analogy of it being “the first lunar outpost on Earth.” It was even named Sustainability Base in honor of Apollo 11’s lunar landing site Tranquility Base. Designed as a “closed-loop,” sustainable building, it not only uses repurposed NASA technologies to conserve energy and reduce water consumption, but it also uses regional natural resources, such as natural lighting and the captured, cooler temperatures of the night air.
Both NASA and the DOE will benefit from this collaboration. DOE’s national laboratory will further develop modeling techniques for the EnergyPlus simulation engine. By installing additional sensors in Sustainability Base, the EnergyPlus model will have access to a richer data set for better calibration and validation; at the same time, Ames will receive better insight into the building’s performance.
Just as important, this collaboration is expected to lay the groundwork for future energy-efficient office buildings that will utilize the technology used to make Sustainability Base a green building success unlike any other in the world.
