WASHINGTON, D.C. – This week, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is celebrating Earth Week with a special NNSA Green Week website [1]highlighting daily “green” stories. Each day, the NNSA Green Week website [1]will focus on a different story that highlights the connection between NNSA’s commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency and NNSA’s efforts to invest in the future of the nuclear security enterprise, implementing President Obama’s nuclear security agenda, and improving the way the enterprise does business.
Today’s feature focuses on the ways NNSA is leading by example. In a video [2], Don Cook, NNSA’s Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs, explains NNSA’s commitment to sustainability and highlights several key sustainability projects from across the enterprise.
“Investing in sustainability and energy efficiency is critical to our transformation from a Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex into a 21st century nuclear security enterprise,” said Cook. “I believe sustainability and energy efficiency are vital to our enterprise, particularly as we invest in the future by building a modern infrastructure that is smaller, safer, more cost effective and more programmatically effective. Simply put, energy efficiency and sustainability are critical to our efforts to improve the way we do business.”
NNSA’s national laboratories are using cross-functional expertise to address national challenges in climate change, energy infrastructure, and infrastructure resiliency. Investments to increase the efficiency of steam plants, heating systems, and potable water have been made throughout the enterprise.
When Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced a new initiative to more broadly implement cool roof technologies [3] on DOE facilities and buildings across the federal government, he highlighted the leadership shown by NNSA’s Roof Asset Management Program which started in 2005. NNSA has installed more than two million square feet of cool roofs, and, through the program, NNSA currently saves an average of $500,000 a year in energy costs and expects to save more than $10 million over the next 15 years. Overall, NNSA has reduced building heating and cooling costs by an average of 70 percent annually on reroofed areas by installing cool roofs and increasing insulation.
NNSA continues to implement green building standards. Several facilities throughout the enterprise have received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification to include Sandia National Laboratories’ MESA Complex and Ion Beam Laboratory; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s TeraScale Simulation Facility [4]; Savannah River’s MOX Administration Building [5]; and Nevada’s two new fire stations [6]. Los Alamos National Laboratory is seeking LEED certification for CMRR’s Radiological Laboratory/Utility/Office Building, and Y-12 is pursuing certification for the UPF administrative building.
NNSA has also received numerous awards for its sustainability efforts, including the Presidential GreenGov green innovation award for Sandia’s solar powered vehicle [7]. In addition, NNSA has awarded more than $150 million in Energy Savings Performance Contracts to install energy savings measures across the enterprise.
To learn more about NNSA’s commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency, visit the NNSA Green Week website at: http://nnsa.energy.gov/greenweek2011 [1].
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Established by Congress in 2000, NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for enhancing national security through the military application of nuclear science in the nation’s national security enterprise. NNSA maintains and enhances the safety, security, reliability, and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile without nuclear testing; reduces the global danger from weapons of mass destruction; provides the U.S. Navy with safe and effective nuclear propulsion; and responds to nuclear and radiological emergencies in the U.S. and abroad.
