NREL Uses Distributed Renewable Energy Systems to Meet Facility
Security Functions and Save Money April 30, 2003 Renewable
energy is saving DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) power and money in both the initial construction costs
and the ongoing operation of its site entrance building at the
National Wind Technology Center's (NWTC's) site entrance
building in Golden, Colorado. Project engineers were able to
integrate energy-efficient and renewable energy features into
the project so that no additional utility infrastructure was
needed. The result is a building that reduces utility costs by
more than 50 percent, provides more secure uninterrupted power
for security functions, and cost less to build because the
infrastructure did not need to be upgraded. To enhance security,
NREL recently constructed NWTC's site entrance building to
control access to the site, but the structure's existing power
line could not provide enough power to operate a typical
building and its monitoring equipment. The sol