Recent renovations in the NIH Clinical Center just achieved LEED Gold Certification. The updates were to the F wing, which has transformed 16 floors and 250,000 sq. ft. of space. The project converted former patient care and support units into flexible research laboratory and support spacing serving at least 12 different Institutes and Centers, including a series of clinical anatomical pathology laboratories for NCI's Laboratory of Pathology, with an autopsy suite with morgue, and various pathological, cytological, and molecular labs.
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a green building rating system developed by the United States Green Building Council to implement sustainable, environmentally-friendly building elements in design and construction projects, with increasing levels of certification 'points' earned for meeting corresponding environmental benefits. The Gold certification is the second highest level on a scale of four.
The certification was achieved through various sustainable strategies targeting air quality, light, temperature, water and other energy efficiencies including the novel, chilled beam technology, hazardous material abatement, and use of renewable, recycled, low emitting and locally produced materials.
The chilled beam technology and other mechanical system design changes achieved a 15% reduction in energy use over a baseline building. The exhaust air systems have sensors to automatically reduce energy use during down periods and recover and reuse heat that would otherwise escape into the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide sensors react to densely occupied areas such as conference rooms, increasing fresh air flow. Occupancy sensors using infrared and ultrasonic devices "sense" when an area is vacant, powering down lighting systems in zones, with lighting in adjacent vacant areas reduced by 50% to eliminate harsh, light-to-dark situations for remaining employees.
