Chelmsford, Massachusetts

NERL conducts chemical and biological laboratory analysis of environmental samples for the Office of Environmental Measurement and Evaluation.

Sustainable Features

• The laboratory features variable air volume fume hoods and ventilation systems that use less energy than constant-volume models.
• The facility has faucet aerators and a condensate recovery system, which captures condensate water and reuses it as makeup water, saving the facility 140,000 gallons of water per year.
• As part of NERL’s active and passive solar design, EPA installed solar energy-producing window awnings that generated 436 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in fiscal year (FY) 2014.
• NERL received the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED^® Gold for New Construction (version 1.0) certification in February 2003.
• NERL meets the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings due to its existing LEED certification.
• A stormwater treatment system collects runoff from the site’s parking lot storm drains and separates sediment and oil from stormwater. Water from impervious surfaces flows into an underground chamber, where a vortex enhances gravitational settling of sediment. An oil baffle wall then removes oils and other floatables before treated water is released through a flow control chamber into the stormwater pipe system.
   

For more information, visit the NERL website or the EPA Facility Contact List.