Atlanta, Georgia

This facility features the following green attributes:
Green Power
ENERGY STAR

Region 4 Office

Total Facility Area: 381,957 rentable square feet (RSF) (EPA share)
Estimated Personnel: 1,162 EPA personnel
Energy Consumption: 21,892,952,311 British thermal units (Btu) per year (EPA share)
Btu per Rentable Square Foot per Year: 57,318
Water Consumption: 7,107,531 gallons per year
Gallons per RSF per Year: 18.61

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

Description

EPA's Region 4 serves Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. The Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center (SNAFC), where Region 4 is housed, is one of the largest federal buildings in the country. The EPA Region 4 office is the building's largest tenant.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

As a result of a major re-commissioning effort initiated in 2003, SNAFC received an ENERGY STAR^® building label in April 2005. The ENERGY STAR label is awarded to buildings whose energy performance rates in the top 25 percent of facilities in a particular sector. EPA, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), initiated the re-commissioning effort, which reduced cooling loads, increased efficiency of the facility's central plant, and reduced energy consumption by 12 percent, when compared to FY 2003 energy use. Learn more about the ENERGY STAR label for SNAFC.
On October 28, 2004, EPA's Region 4 Office, in partnership with DOE and GSA, received a Federal Energy Efficiency/Energy Program Management Award for initiating the re-commissioning effort described above. Analysis of the building's energy use led to ongoing metering and evaluation initiatives, pilot projects for motion sensor installation, occupant-focused energy awareness programs, and building systems re-commissioning.
In conjunction with GSA, EPA initiated a pilot project in 2002 on the 15th floor to install and monitor the results of occupancy sensors in all spaces and occupancy-controlled, multi-plug surge outlets in workstations and offices. Using sub-meters EPA had installed in the space, baseline data were compared with energy use data from before and after the occupancy sensors and new surge outlets were installed. The study concluded that if plugload power management was installed throughout this EPA office, a reduction of 122,667 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year would be realized (or 123 kWh per person per year).

Green Power

EPA offsets 100 percent of the electricity consumption at the Region 4 office 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 March 2004, EPA entered into a three-year contract (procured by the Defense Energy Support Center), with 3 Phases Energy Services, to purchase 7 million kWh of green power annually in the form of RECs. This contract supports the generation of renewable energy from landfill gas plants in Kentucky and North Carolina.

Green Building

As of FY 2008, GSA is pursuing LEED-EB for SNAFC. EPA Region 4, the building's largest tenant, is assisting GSA with this process. Some green activities that have been or will be incorporated into the facility to help earn the certification include de-lamping some areas, installing occupancy sensors for lights, installing recycled-content carpet, using low-VOC paint, incorporating green cleaning (via contracts), adding additional bicycle racks, and using recycled glass for landscaping.

Stormwater Management

SNAFC has incorporated an urban forest on its campus to help filter pollutants, absorb water, and enhance ground-water recharge. See Stormwater Management at EPA Facilities for more information.

Contact

Gary White (white.gary@epa.gov)
61 Forsyth Street, SW
Atlanta, GA 30303-8960
Phone: (404) 562-8157

Web site: www.epa.gov/region4