{"183281":{"#nid":"183281","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Laboratory Goes Platinum","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/nique.net\/news\/2013\/01\/11\/cnes-laboratory-gets-platinum\/\u0022\u003EThis article first appeared\u003C\/a\u003E in the January 11, 2013, edition of the \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/nique.net\u0022\u003ETechnique\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn December 2012, the Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Laboratory (CNES) was awarded the Platinum level LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification, the first to be recognized at this level of LEED certification at Tech. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is in charge of giving out LEED certifications to buildings that meet various environmentally sustainable criteria.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe CNES building was also the first building on campus with a net-zero energy consumption goal with onsite energy production. Additionally, the 42,000 square foot building will consume only 29 million BTUs per year\u2014roughly half the energy of a small-sized office.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe building itself is a low consumer of energy. It has no air conditioning; it\u2019s just shade and shelter with natural ventilation and very large fans for controlling the fans for controlling the temperature in there,\u201d Jones said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition, the building features a variety of other \u201cgreen\u201d technologies, such as the largest and most expensive photovoltaic (PV) array on campus. According to Jones, these PV cells generate 290 kW, equivalent to 91 percent of the building\u2019s total energy use.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cAlmost every available surface, we put photovoltaic cells on,\u201d Jones said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJones, however, acknowledged LEED certification was not the primary reason for designing a sustainable building.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBasically, LEED is a useful measuring system\u2014that\u2019s all it is,\u201d said Darrell Scott Jones, Director of Design and Construction in the Facilities Department. \u201cWe try to design sustainably in everything we do. We use LEED as a measuring end\u2014it\u2019s not an end of itself, but just a way to know how you\u2019re doing.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe principal thing is that we wind up with a building that\u2019s very good to occupy in terms of indoor air quality, natural light and ventilation,\u201d Jones said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMaterial reuse, green power and innovative wastewater technologies are some of the creditable criteria awarded after various prerequisites are met, for new building construction projects. Buildings that receive a score of 80 or more out of a 100 points are eligible for platinum LEED certification.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe 42,000 square foot building will consume only 29 million BTUs per year\u2014roughly half the energy of a small-sized office.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The 42,000 square foot building will consume only 29 million BTUs per year\u2014roughly half the energy of a small-sized office."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2013-01-14 17:24:14","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:29","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2013-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2013-01-14T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"183291":{"id":"183291","type":"image","title":"Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Building","body":null,"created":"1449179062","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:44:22","changed":"1475894830","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:47:10","alt":"Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions Building","file":{"fid":"196087","name":"north-avenue-research-area-news-standard.jpeg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/north-avenue-research-area-news-standard_0.jpeg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/north-avenue-research-area-news-standard_0.jpeg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":351707,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/north-avenue-research-area-news-standard_0.jpeg?itok=T2DFthdH"}}},"media_ids":["183291"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/nique.net\/news\/2013\/01\/11\/cnes-laboratory-gets-platinum\/","title":"CNES Laboratory gets Platinum"},{"url":"http:\/\/nique.net\/","title":"Technique"}],"groups":[{"id":"1316","name":"Green Buzz"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"55101","name":"Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions"},{"id":"55091","name":"CNES"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"},{"id":"9617","name":"Technique"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:news@nique.net\u0022\u003ESam Somani\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Technique\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}