Houston, Texas

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

Environmental Services Branch Laboratory

Total Facility Area: 38,710 gross square feet (GSF)
Estimated Personnel: 72 persons
Energy Consumption: 20,815,566,028 Btu per year
Btu per GSF per Year: 537,731
Total Water Consumption: 3,123,000 gallons per year
Gallons per GSF per Year: 81

All energy and water data are reported as of FY 2007.

Description

The Houston facility provides office and laboratory space in support of regional monitoring and criminal, civil, and enforcement activities. Laboratory personnel also perform evaluations and audits of environmental monitoring laboratories and public water supply laboratories. EPA first occupied this facility in 1990; the lease expires in May 2010.

Unique Environmental Features

Energy Conservation

The facility's cooling tower and main auxiliary heating unit are equipped with variable frequency drives, which save energy by enhancing operation of the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system motors.
In FY 2004, EPA completed designs for a mechanical system upgrade, which included a variable air volume (VAV) ventilation system and other energy-saving improvements. The project was not initiated because it was determined that payback could not justify the estimated cost.
EPA conducted air system modifications and upgraded an existing direct digital control system in FY 1997.

Green Power

In June 2006, EPA worked with the Defense Energy Support Center to procure a green power contract with 3 Phases Energy Services for 110 million kilowatt hours (kWh) in renewable energy certificates (RECs), or “green tags.” With deliveries beginning September 1, 2006, this blanket purchase offsets 100 percent of annual electricity use at the Houston laboratory and several other facilities through FY 2007 by supporting wind power generation in California, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.
In June 2003, EPA entered into a three-year contract, procured by 3 Phases Energy Services, to purchase approximately 3.35 million kWh of green power annually in the form of RECs for the Houston laboratory. The contract covered 100 percent of the facility's annual electricity use and supported the generation of green power from a wind farm near Clovis, New Mexico, about 10 miles from the Texas state border.

Water Conservation

EPA completed a water conservation assessment and developed a water management plan for the Region 6 Environmental Services Branch Laboratory (PDF) (17 pp, 1.2MB,About PDF) in July 2005.
In April 2005, the facility installed a water treatment system that kills bacteria and algae with ultrasonic waves, thus eliminating the need for certain chemical water treatments and mitigating the facility's overall environmental impact.
In 1996, EPA installed a cooling tower condensate return system to reduce water consumption at the facility. Condensation from the normal operation of the laboratory air handling unit is collected and then used in the cooling tower as input water. The collected condensate water is pure (which reduces the need to treat the water) and cool (which lowers the amount of energy necessary to cool it). This system cuts water use approximately 15 percent in a typical year, reducing the laboratory's water consumption by about 831,600 gallons per year. The laboratory now typically uses 3 million gallons of water per year.

Additional Features

All of the facility's chlorofluorocarbons were replaced by 1998.

For More Information

L.C. Miner (miner.lc@epa.gov)
U.S. EPA Region 6 Laboratory
10625 Fallstone Road
Houston, TX 77099
Phone: (281) 983-2112
Fax: (281) 983-2124

Abbas Keshavarz (keshavarz.abbas@epa.gov)
Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. (3204R)
Washington, DC 20460
Phone: (202) 564-5075

Web site: www.epa.gov/region6/6lab/r6lab.htm