Duluth, Minnesota

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
Water Management Plan
Native Landscaping

Mid-Continent Ecology Division Laboratory

Total Facility Area: 88,577 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 145 persons
Energy Consumption: 29,392,512,344 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 331,830
Total Water Consumption: 991,169 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per Year: 11.2

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2008.

Description

The Duluth laboratory is a research facility for EPA's National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory under the Office of Research and Development (ORD). It conducts research to determine the ecological effects of water pollutants on fish, wildlife, and ecosystems. The Mid-continent Ecology Division (MED) also operates the Large Lakes and Rivers Research Station in Grosse Ile, Michigan.

Duluth was selected for the site of the MED research facility because of the need for water from Lake Superior to conduct its research. The unchanging quality of the water over the past 30 years is essential to the credibility of the ecotoxicology research performed. Currently, the facility uses about 94 million gallons of Lake Superior water annually for research and cooling.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

In FY 2006, EPA completed designs on a project to replace the Duluth laboratory's existing constant volume air handling units (AHU) with a more energy-efficient variable air volume (VAV) unit, and install more current AHU technology overall. Construction of the project is expected to begin in 2009. These upgrades are expected to reduce the laboratory’s energy use by 20 percent.
In March 2005, EPA installed 37 wireless temperature sensors throughout its Duluth, Minnesota, laboratory offices and corridors. These sensors, which give employees greater control over indoor air temperature, have the potential to decrease energy use and increase cost savings for the facility.
The facility's use of Lake Superior water for "free" and reduced energy cooling is unique among EPA laboratories, and is a significant energy savings contributor.
Management's innovative expansion and application of the facility's control system and diligence in operational practices, both in maintenance and selective fuel use, helped the facility achieve an 18 percent reduction in energy consumption and cost from FY 1997 to FY 1999.

Green Power

MED purchases approximately 24,000 kWh, or approximately 1 percent, of its annual electricity consumption in the form of delivered green power. The facility began this practice in March 2002.
EPA offsets the rest of the electricity consumption at MED with renewable energy certificates (RECs) purchased through the Agency's current blanket green power contract. Learn more about EPA's current and past blanket green power contracts.
In June 2004, EPA entered into a three-year contract (procured by the Defense Energy Support Center) with QVINTA, Inc. to purchase 2.35 million kWh annually of green power for its Duluth laboratory. This represented approximately 90 percent of the laboratory's electricity use. EPA bought 2,350 RECs (1 REC = 1,000 kWh) per year generated at a wind farm in Dodge Center, Minnesota.

Water Conservation

In September 2009, EPA updated its water management plan for the Duluth laboratory (PDF) (22 pp, 468K, About PDF). The facility's first water management plan (PDF) (15 pp, 360K, About PDF), which is superseded by the updated plan, was completed in January 2004.
In FY 2007, Duluth completed a water recycling project to reduce the amount of water that was discharged into the facility’s sewage system after having been drawn from Lake Superior and used for laboratory processes. Approximately half of the 94 million gallons of water used annually for cooling and aquatic research is cleaned and returned to the lake, reducing the facility’s annual sewer charges. The addition of a water filtration project in FY 2008 is expected to increase the facility’s water recycling rate to 95 percent.

Stormwater Management

The laboratory has integrated a native landscaping meadow that serves as a stormwater buffer. For more information, see Stormwater Management at EPA Facilities.

For More Information

Rod Booth (booth.rod@epa.gov)
6201 Congdon Boulevard
Duluth, MN 55804
Phone: (218) 529-5000
Fax: (218) 720-5703

Web site:www.epa.gov/med