Federal Buildings
Stewarding energy
use in federal facilities
Building research engineers at PNNL develop and demonstrate advanced technologies and methods for evaluating building performance, and testing advanced control technologies to optimize building performance. Novel approaches to performance evaluation and optimization are helping federal and private building owners identify opportunities to improve efficiency, validate technology effectiveness, and achieve water and energy use goals in the most cost-effective way.
Andrea Starr | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Unlike buildings owned and maintained by private citizens, government buildings are powered using taxpayer dollars. Every U.S. citizen has a vested interest in the cost associated with the operations and maintenance of government building systems, from plumbing and lighting to air conditioning and ventilation.
DOE’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) works with federal agencies to assure the productivity of energy and water are maximized to meet the agencies’ missions, illustrating good stewardship of taxpayer dollars. PNNL plays a role in FEMP’s mission by providing the expertise and resources to help the federal sector become more energy and water efficient and resilient.
PNNL supports FEMP on multiple fronts, including building optimization, energy and water resilience and security, training, and strategic support. PNNL researchers provide technical expertise in building operation and maintenance, facility evaluations, water management, resilience planning, and cybersecurity, among others.
PNNL researchers developed cybersecurity toolsets for buildings to help agencies plan for cybersecurity threats to facility-related control systems. They are also developing technical resources to assist federal agencies in conducting comprehensive energy and water evaluations. This assistance includes training for FEMP with guidelines for developing energy and water resilience plans.
Tools developed by PNNL—such as the Facility Energy Decision System, or FEDS—help federal agencies model energy and cost performance of heating, cooling and other building systems, as well as calculate energy consumption and electrical demand for buildings or an entire campus or installation. PNNL’s water management and training tools, like the Alternative Water Mapping Tool, help federal agencies plan alternative and sustainable water resources—like harvested rainwater and condensate captured from air handling units—to offset use of fresh surface water and groundwater.
PNNL helps our federal counterparts achieve their mission while maximizing the benefits of resources used to accomplish those missions.
