NASA’s self-sustaining Green Building
Greenlaunches
The Sustainability Base being planned by NASA would be the greenestbuilding in the federal government. This will be NASA’s most ambitiousplan in its arsenal of eco-friendly projects. The building which willcost approximately $20.6 million, will utilize current alternativeenergy technologies such as water recycling systems, fuel cells andsolar panels to achieve a LEED-certified building. The main aim is tobuild a self-sustaining structure that consumes no net energy and 90percent less potable water than other buildings its size.
An intelligent controls system that was derived from spaceprogram counterparts will control all the technologies in the building.The main computer will check the weather conditions constantly to plantenvironmental control and also has the capability to adjusttemperatures inside the building depending on the number of people inthe building. Other systems include geothermal well cooling system,computer controlled windows, energy-use monitors. The ceremonialgroundbreaking event for this project will be on August 25th and theconstruction is expected to be completed by November 2011.
