BRIEF

Policy Summary

This policy identifies sustainability standards for new facilities construction at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). New facilities construction presents a unique opportunity to pursue integrated, performance-driven designs to minimize energy use and other environmental impacts associated with buildings at the lowest possible cost. The purpose of this policy is to:

1. Reduce constraints on growth of Laboratory research.
2. Establish a practical path to comply with federal and University of California (UC) sustainability requirements.
3. Drive continuous improvement in the area of high-performance, low-cost building design that is consistent with the leadership position demonstrated by Berkeley Lab research.
4. Minimize life-cycle costs within the constraints of capital budgets.
5. Provide leadership and support for state climate-related policy and strategic goals for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

Who Should Read This Policy

This policy applies to persons involved with the management of new building construction projects undertaken by the Laboratory. Section D.15, Procurement of High-Performance Computing Systems, in the POLICY tab of this policy also applies to persons involved with the procurement of major energy-consuming equipment or systems. This policy does not apply to persons involved with renovations (major or minor), retrofits, or installation of temporary structures.

To Read the Full Policy, Go To:

The POLICY tab on this wiki page

Contact Information

Chief Sustainability Officer

Directorate

sbl@lbl.gov

POLICY

A. Purpose

This policy identifies sustainability standards for new facilities construction at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). New facilities construction presents a unique opportunity to pursue integrated, performance-driven designs to minimize energy use and other environmental impacts associated with buildings at the lowest possible cost. The purpose of this policy is to:

1. Reduce constraints on growth of Laboratory research.
2. Establish a practical path to comply with federal and University of California (UC) sustainability requirements.
3. Drive continuous improvement in the area of high-performance, low-cost building design that is consistent with the leadership position demonstrated by Berkeley Lab research.
4. Minimize life-cycle costs within the constraints of capital budgets.
5. Provide leadership and support for state climate-related policy and strategic goals for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

B. Persons Affected

This policy applies to persons involved with the management of new building construction projects undertaken by the Laboratory. Section D.15, Procurement of High-Performance Computing Systems, below, also applies to persons involved with the procurement of major energy-consuming equipment or systems. This policy does not apply to persons involved with renovations (major or minor), retrofits, or installation of temporary structures.

C. Exceptions

Exceptions to this policy require formal approval by the Laboratory Director. Exceptions are expected to be rare and not violate the spirit of the policy.

D. Policy Statement

1. Living Laboratory. Berkeley Lab will strive to cultivate a living laboratory in its buildings to:
   1. Support, strengthen, and apply research.
   2. Ensure that new knowledge is systematically generated to inform future projects or improve current operations.
   3. Collect information on how a building performs relative to initial goals as important feedback to future designs.
2. Energy Efficiency — Whole-Building Performance Targets. Building designs must meet whole-building energy performance targets based on type of use. Targets will initially be less than half of typical equivalent facilities benchmarked to average energy use at the turn of the millennium. Efficiency targets will be made more stringent over time following demonstrated practical achievement of initial targets, and recognizing efficiency-enabling technology advancements. Design teams must prepare energy models to confirm compliance with targets. Models are to be developed beginning at schematic design or Critical Decision 2 (CD-2), updated with building program and material changes at end of design and end of construction administration, and represent the best estimate of as-operated building energy use and peak demands, before accounting for on-site energy generation. Targets are intended to be verifiable in actual operation. Additional guidance on setting and implementing whole-building performance targets is provided in the Implementation Guide for the Berkeley Lab Sustainability Standards for New Construction.
3. Energy Efficiency — ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Compliance. In addition to meeting whole-building performance targets, building designs must demonstrate energy performance 30% lower than the maximum allowed by the ASHRAE Standard 90.1, before accounting for on-site energy generation. The version of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 will be as required by 10 CFR 433.
4. Energy Efficiency — Mechanical Systems. Refrigeration cycle-based cooling may be employed in office and other low-heat-load spaces built in the mild Berkeley climate only after all other options are proven to be inadequate. An example of measures to provide appropriate space temperatures during warm weather to be pursued before refrigeration cycle-based cooling include:
   1. Building orientation (where possible).
   2. Careful window and envelope design, including limiting window-to-wall ratios in individual spaces.
   3. Shading and thermal mass.
   4. Reductions in internal thermal loads from lighting and equipment.
   5. High-performance glazing.
   6. High R-value for insulation.
   7. Pre-cooling with nighttime outside air.
   8. Occupant-controlled or automated natural ventilation.
   9. Low-energy means to improve personal comfort (such as ceiling fans).
   10. Evaporative cooling, including cooling towers (waterside economizers).
5. Energy Efficiency — Lighting Systems. Lighting circuits and lighting controls must be designed to allow for separate control for any area with a distinct occupancy pattern. Exterior and interior lighting controls must be installed consistent with mandatory requirements in the nonresidential California energy building code (Title 24) effective as of CD-2 approval. These requirements involve multilevel lighting controls, demand-response controls, automatic daylighting controls, occupant-sensing controls, security and egress lighting, secondary interior spaces, exterior luminaires, exterior building facade and ornamental hardscape lighting, and glare control. Exterior lighting circuits shall be integrated into the sitewide exterior lighting control system where feasible, in accordance with the Implementation Guide for the Berkeley Lab Sustainability Standards for New Construction. Unless Berkeley Lab provides alternative direction, interior lighting circuits shall be controlled using lighting control systems already in use at the Lab, rather than new lighting control systems. Daylighting (with glare control) should also be considered as a primary source of illumination to reduce lighting energy use. See the Implementation Guide for information about preferred lighting control systems and guidance on targets for the design of daylighting and glare management.
6. Fossil Fuel. No new building or major renovation shall use on-site fossil fuel combustion (for example, natural gas) for space or water heating. Projects unable to meet this requirement shall document the rationale as required by the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices.
7. Renewables. New building projects must be designed to generate at least 7.5% of the estimated project energy consumption from a renewable energy source. At a minimum, a new building designed with solar generation must be solar ready, i.e., designed to the maximum extent feasible to enable the installation of solar photovoltaic and heating systems even if they are installed after the building is constructed. Project-specific renewable energy goals will be defined at the time the project is baselined for CD-2.
8. Green Building. Building designs for projects exceeding $20 million must achieve a minimum LEED Gold certification. For high-energy mission-specific facilities (HEMSFs), non-office and non-laboratory portions of the project without directly applicable LEED criteria may be excluded from the project submitted for certification, consistent with U.S. Green Building Council guidance.
9. Waste Minimization and Diversion. In support of zero waste (>90%):
   1. Building designs must comply with a zero-waste (>90%) action plan that will be developed for each project by the Berkeley Lab Chief Sustainability Officer or designee in collaboration with the building design team.
   2. A minimum of 80% (by weight) of waste from the building construction and demolition project must diverted from the landfill in accordance with the requirements in the LEED v4 credit on "Construction and demolition waste management." Construction waste diversion is covered in Master Specification 017419 (see Implementing Documents). The Lab will provide a point of contact to coordinate with the contractor in advance of the construction start regarding compliance with the specification, which defines a construction waste diversion plan and reporting requirements. Materials should be source-separated if possible. If construction and demolition materials are comingled and sent to a mixed-recovery facility, that facility must have third-party verification of facility-average recycling rates as described in LEED credit MRpc87.
   3. The building design should avoid distributed use of batteries where feasible. Equipment in restrooms (such as faucets, toilets, and soap dispensers) shall not use batteries for automation, except in cases where equipment is designated as accessible and a manual or non-battery-operated option is not available. Batteries used for emergency lighting are an exception.
10. Water. All new construction projects must achieve the following credits that are not currently required as prerequisites within the LEED rating system:
    1. Indoor water use reduction from fixtures 30–40% below baseline and as required for appliance and process water
    2. Outdoor water use reduction so that landscaping does not require a permanent irrigation system beyond a maximum 18-month establishment. Note that ongoing, automated irrigation watering at Berkeley Lab is prohibited. Three limited exceptions are provided:
       1. The Lab may do automated drip irrigation watering for a period up to 18 months to establish new landscaping.
       2. The Lab may designate very limited portions of some sites (for example, less than a quarter of the landscaped area) in which drought-tolerant landscaping receives drip irrigation that is controlled to provide the minimum amount of water needed to sustain plantings for limited periods of extreme drought. 
       3. The Lab may do occasional watering by hand as necessary to prevent loss of landscaping.
11. Transportation. All new construction projects must:
    1. Achieve the Bicycle Facilities credit within the LEED rating system (generally related to bicycle storage and showers, currently voluntary within LEED and not required as a prerequisite).
    2. Install Level 2 electrical vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) or provide conduit with a conductor for at least one parking space used by the project.
    3. Be served by the Berkeley Lab shuttle system or other means to reduce vehicle parking requirements.
12. Metering and Metrics. Interval metering is required to confirm as-operated building performance. Meters are to be integrated into an electronic system that will allow ongoing monitoring of metered data. Interval metering is required for:
    1. Each energy commodity at the building level (electricity, natural gas, delivered chilled water, delivered hot water, and delivered steam).
    2. Inputs and outputs (energy and thermal flows) to major energy-using systems (chiller plants, boiler plants, and water-heating systems) — and individual pieces of equipment that make up these systems — sufficient to calculate operational efficiencies.
    3. Electricity end-use metering (which can be achieved cost-effectively if electrical circuits are separated by end-use and metering is specified as part of the electrical breaker) for the categories of HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), lighting, plug loads, significant atypical loads (such as high-performance computing systems, data centers, server rooms, commercial kitchens, or HEMSFs), and other loads (i.e., all remaining loads). Metering for office and laboratory spaces should be separated wherever practical.
    4. On-site generation, such as renewable electric or thermal systems.
    5. Water end-use metering for the categories of domestic cold water, domestic hot water, industrial cold water, industrial hot water, reverse osmosis water, reverse osmosis reject water, and cooling tower makeup, cooling tower blowdown (including overflow and manual drain lines), and significant atypical process loads. A significant, expected process load consumption would be greater than 10% of total building consumption. Project drawings and specifications must include (1) a schedule of meters (points list) that includes all metering points across all commodities, (2) a key indicating the specification section that applies to each meter in the schedule of meters, (3) an integration diagram indicating integration paths between meters and information systems, and (4) a schedule of performance metrics, including formulas using meters from the schedule of meters, units, and applicable design targets.
13. Design Assumptions. The following information will be documented by design teams for each building design and included in the basis of design and on project drawings:
    1. Most likely maximum (MLM) loads, design loads, and lowest partial load conditions assumed for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing basis of design.
       
       1. For all equipment and subsystems, the applied margins of safety between the MLM and the design conditions must be reviewed to ensure that they represent an appropriate balance between extra capacity and the available budget.
    2. Solar-ready on-site renewable generation potential per building (annual kWh/gsf).
       1. This number will be maintained going forward along with actual project generation.
14. Reporting. The Chief Sustainability Officer will collaborate with site contacts to compile an annual performance report that includes as-operated performance in comparison to whole-building performance targets and metering points identified in Section D.12, Metering and Metrics, of this policy. All underlying data will be made transparent and available.
15. Procurement of High-Performance Computing Systems. Award of procurement contracts for high-performance computing systems exceeding $1 million must consider a life-cycle cost that includes estimated energy cost over the useful life of the equipment as an evaluation criterion.
16. Peer Reviews. External peer reviews, managed by the Senior Project Manager, are required for mechanical, electrical, and plumbing designs if requested by the Chief Sustainability Officer and needed to confirm compliance with this policy.

E. Roles and Responsibilities

F. Definitions/Acronyms

G. Recordkeeping Requirements

See Section D.14, Reporting, of this policy.

H. Implementing Documents

Implementation Guide for the Berkeley Lab Sustainability Standards for New Construction
Master Specification 017419 Construction Waste Management

I. Contact Information

Chief Sustainability OfficerDirectorate sbl@lbl.gov

J. Revision History

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

Source Requirements Documents

• Federal sustainability requirements contained in EPACT 2005, EISA 2007, and EO 13834
• UC Sustainable Practices Policy available at http://sustainability.universityofcalifornia.edu/policy.html
• DOE O 436.1, Departmental Sustainability
• Contract 31, Clause I.140, DEAR 970.5223-7, Sustainable Acquisition Program (Sep 2010)
• Contract 31, Clause I.138, DEAR 952.223-78 Sustainable Acquisition Program (Sep 2010)

Other References

• Laboratory Director's Committee Consensus Policy Recommendations — Sustainability Standards for New Construction, February 2013.

Implementing Documents

Not applicable