Buildings Research Video (Text Version)
This is the text version for the NREL Buildings Research Video.
The video opens with an image of the outside of one of the Science and Technology Facility at NREL: a wide, one-story, flat building with huge windows turned towards the sun, surrounded by a wide yard. The image switches to one inside the building, with the image of a woman researcher, in a lab coat and goggles, sitting at a computer.
Paul Torcellini: "People, even inside these labs, have direct connections to the outdoors."
A montage of different images of NREL, showing different shots of buildings at different angles. It ends with a shot of the NREL facilities, surrounded by a large field of tall grasses.
(Voiceover)
This is where comfort meets conservation.
Paul Torcellini, a middle-aged man in glasses, stands on a pathway in front of the Science and Technology Facility, gesturing at the building as he speaks.
Paul Torcellini: "We actually designed the landscaping to blend in with the natural vegetation here…"
(Voiceover)
A stunning display of architectural style and environmental stewardship.
Paul Torcellini: "…which is a key mission of the lab…"
(Voiceover)
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Science and Technology Facility is one of the most green and clean places to work in the country.
Paul Torcellini: "…and it really shows our leadership to build low energy buildings."
(Voiceover)
It is the first federal building to earn the prestigious Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design—or LEED—platinum rating.
Shot of the LEED certificate that NREL received. It reads, "U.S. Green Building Council: NREL Science and Technology Facility, Golden, CO. LEED for New Construction." The video changes back to Paul Torcellini, standing in front of the Science and Technology Facility. Next to him are the words: Paul Torcellini, Senior Engineer.
Paul Torcellini: "It was a big milestone for the federal government as well as the laboratory."
(Voiceover)
This $22 million research facility in Golden, Colorado is sculpted for the surrounding landscape.
Paul Torcellini: "The rain water is collected and a portion of it comes off the end and it goes down and it naturally flows through a series of ponds and retention basins."
The video focuses in on the roof of the facility, which is sloped sharply downwards. Birds fly past the building while Paul speaks. The video then follows the progress of this water down to ground-level, where the video focuses on piles of sloping rocks that lead down the hillside.
(Voiceover)
It's designed to make maximum use of our renewable energy resources.
Paul Torcellini: "We can actually operate this lab without lights."
The video turns to a lens on the ceiling, which brings in light from the sun. It then switches to an image of a man in sunglasses, who is standing in front of the Science and Technology Facility. Accompanying text reads, "Ron Judkoff, Director."
Ron Judkoff: "We don't have to pay for any heat to do that, and we don't have to pay a utility bill, and we don't have to put any carbon emissions into the air to heat the building when the sun heats it for free."
(Voiceover)
Cost effectiveness and energy savings are key to the success of NREL's Center for Buildings and Thermal Systems. This is the home base for the design team behind the state-of-the-art Science and Technology Facility. Conservation is put in to practice here.
The video focuses in on the windows. All of the windows are set about a foot deep into the building walls. The square walls that extend around them shade the windows from the noon-level sun.
Ron Judkoff: "All of the glass in the building is totally shaded…"
(Voiceover)
The shadow lines seen along the windows show the careful calculations of NREL's researchers at work. The path of the sun figures into the overhangs to prevent direct sunlight from heating the building in the summer, but to allow that warmth in during the winter.
Ron Judkoff: "… and that's free heating."
(Voiceover)
The need for electric lighting is limited by letting the sun illuminate the space inside, sometimes through relatively inexpensive tubular devices positioned directly overhead.
The video switches to a shot inside the facility, where researchers are working at computers. The inside if the building is lit with natural light. The video then zooms in on a lens on the ceiling.
Ron Judkoff: "They all work by having a highly reflective tube that penetrates through the roof and then, basically just pipes the light down to a lens."
(Voiceover)
It's called "daylighting," and it's also one of the many environmentally-friendly features at the Science and Technology Facility. Controlled dimmers and motion sensors detect when the sun is doing its job and the lights inside are not needed.
Paul Torcellini: "When they dim down, we don't have to pay for that electric lighting, and we don't have to pay for the heat that they generate on the air conditioning side."
The video turns to an image of a man, wearing goggles, who is standing inside of a research facility in front of a large machine with large tubes. The text identifies him as Steven Slayzak, Senior Engineer.
Steven Slayzak: "Air conditioning is critical, actually, because it drives peak stress on the grid."
(Voiceover)
Those summertime power blackouts are due in part to the overwhelming demand for cool air. Engineers here are working on techniques to drastically lessen the electrical load caused by air conditioning.
The video pans through a montage of electrical infrastructure, from large electrical poles and systems to huge wires and transformers.
Steven Slayzak: "These approaches usually involve evaporative cooling in some form, and they can use between one-half and one-tenth the electricity of conventional air conditioning."
(Voiceover)
NREL tracks performance…
Steven Slayzak: "In this lab, we evaluate state-of-the-art heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment."
(Voiceover)
…and teams up with industry partners to produce the prototypes for energy efficient climate control systems.
The video walks through several machines, computers, and large devices set up at NREL.
Steven Slayzak: "It's able to both cool and dehumidify the incoming air in the summertime without any moving parts."
The video changes to a shot of the rooftop of the Thermal Test Facility, where a man is standing. The video identifies him as Tim Merrigan, Senior Program Manager. He stands on a flat, black part of the rooftop, next to a sloping section that is covered with solar panels.
Tim Merrigan: "Well, we're up here on the roof of the Thermal Test Facility."
(Voiceover)
NREL also works with manufacturers to dilute the demand for power by developing lower cost solar water heating systems.
Tim Merrigan: "This particular experiment that's going on here with flat-plate solar collectors typical of what's in a solar water heating system that's in a home."
Ron Judkoff: "When you have an inefficient home, it's literally dollars just being burned up the stack."
The video turns to an image of a one-story residential home. The video then zooms in on the rooftop, which is covered with solar panels.
(Voiceover)
Keeping energy costs down is critical when it comes to affordable housing. That's why NREL offers guidance and training to help Habitat for Humanity build green.
Ron Judkoff: "If they can build a very efficient house, then those low-income occupants have that much more chance at success."
(Voiceover)
This innovative research is touching the lives of homeowners nationwide through a partnership between NREL and the Department of Energy's Building America program. Consulting teams work closely with builders to capitalize on energy-saving strategies.
Tim Merrigan: "Now the builders that Building America is working with are going to 40 or 50% savings of energy efficiency."
Ron Judkoff: "Eventually, as time goes on, to get where our mass production builders are building zero-energy homes."
(Voiceover)
The goal is to develop zero-energy homes for the mass market by the year 2020. A zero-energy home produces as much energy as it uses.
Tim Merrigan: "That energy consumption zeros out or nets out with the renewable energy that's produced by solar thermal energy systems like solar water heating systems and solar electric systems that are installed in that home."
(Voiceover)
Zero-energy homes. Commercial buildings that consume less electricity. It's all possible with a whole building approach, a process that incorporates environmentalism and energy efficiency.
The video pans through images of residential homes, home builders at work, and NREL researchers.
Ron Judkoff: "About 70% of the nation's electricity goes into buildings."
(Voiceover)
From design to daily use, lighting to landscaping. NREL researchers are leading the charge to conserve energy, save money and improve the way we live and work.
Paul Torcellini: "The function of a building and the form really start coming together to make an energy efficient space, as well as happier occupants."
The video ends with a shot of several researchers sitting inside the Science and Technology Facility. They are looking out a large window into the hills and natural lands outside of the facility.
(Voiceover)
It's a vision that's framing the buildings of the future.
Ron Judkoff: "Be just as comfortable. Be just as functional. But use half or less of the energy to do it."
The video ends with the NREL logo.
