Performance Status. The Associate Directorate for Nuclear and High Hazard Operations issued an institutional procedure requiring that facilities with Building Automation Systems (BAS) use the night setback feature to reduce energy consumption. The Utilities and Infrastructure (UI) energy management team reviewed the buildings to ensure compliance with the procedure. An ESPC Detailed Energy Survey (DES) phase of the project was brought to a close and the DES report was accepted by DOE. DOE issued the delivery order to NORESCO and Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) concurred by means of a tri-party agreement. NORESCO signed an agreement with a prime subcontractor, B&D Electric of Albuquerque, NM, to provide the rest of the design effort and all construction work. By the end of FY 2010, the final design work should be 25 percent complete. This ESPC DO will require an initial investment of $12.9 million by NORESCO and promises an estimated $1.2M in annual savings over a 20-year period. To achieve the goals of avoiding growth and reducing the facility footprint, LANL removed approximately 667 k gsf of facilities between FY 2003 and FY 2009. Multiple drivers motivate the need for footprint reduction including internal LANL goals and Federal mandates. FY 2010 accomplishments include the D&D of the old LASO building, D&D of over 30,000 gsf of trailers and transportable buildings and D&D at TAs-18, 21, and 54. Based on the energy usage in the 2003 baseline of 255,388 BTU/gsf/yr for LANL, estimated accumulated energy intensity reduction resulting only from safe shutdown and elimination of footprint will be 123,658 MMBTUs by 2014. Consolidating functions within a smaller LANL footprint comprised of new facilities and enduring existing facilities will ultimately allow for the removal of obsolete inefficient structures. Energy reduction goals cannot be met without the net benefits of footprint reduction. As part of the Laboratory’s energy awareness and outreach goals, the Energy Management Council co- hosted an Energy Town Hall event. The third annual event was open to the public. LANL’s Environmental Stewardship Group (ENV-ES) promotes and recognizes individuals and teams that work to conserve energy, water, and fuel. Over the past five years, LANL has received more National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awards than any other site in the DOE complex. This year, LANL won three NNSA Best-in-Class awards and five national NNSA Environmental Stewardship awards, including one f...
Performance Status. LANL implemented new procedures, which required Division Leaders or their designees to review and authorize fleet vehicle replacements. These designees determine if a replacement is required to meet a programmatic need or if a vehicle could be downsized. As of October 2010, the Laboratory operated with 1,548 vehicles, which is below the approved DOE/NNSA approved fleet cap of 1,571 vehicles. Currently, ~18 percent of LANL's fleet gets 21 MPG or better. LANL began testing the cost and efficiency of E-85 in flex-fuel vehicles using eighty SOC vehicles. LANL subcontracted a local pueblo to provide bulk E-85 fuel and procured a mobile fuel tanker to transport the fuel. LANL’s E-85 consumption in 2010 was 24,318 gallons. This represents four percent of the total gasoline usage on site. E-85 is comprised of 15 percent petroleum hydrocarbon and 85 percent ethyl alcohol, and with the substitution of the four percent, we achieve a 3.4 percent petroleum hydrocarbon reduction. The test population provides data related to operating and fuel costs and maintenance requirements. LANL will use these data to determine the practicality of using E-85 in additional vehicles. LANL's Fleet Team assessed local vendor rates for comparable services. They posted the rates on LANL’s internal website for vehicle operators to reference when scheduling vehicle service. The Fleet Team developed a standard preventative maintenance checklist, which stipulates the minimum level of vehicle service that each vendor must provide and attest to by their signature. As always, employees are encouraged to use public transit whenever possible for on/off-site transportation and to pool government vehicles for the most fuel efficient fleet.
Performance Status. LANL has installed electric meters in 103 buildings out of 122 meters necessary to meet the EPAct 2005 requirement for metering. All electricity distributed throughout LANL is measured by 125 meters at the
Performance Status. LANL has provided training funds for at least one individual to become certified energy managers (CEM) to effectively implement energy and water management programs. LANL CEMs work with facility management to achieve energy and water reduction goals. These individuals provide oversight for energy audits, advise building operators about conservation measures, and coordinate energy conservation programs and projects. LANL sponsored a FEMP-provided energy audit training for facility engineers and managers. In addition, LANL staff attended an HPSB Guiding Principles training, the GovEnergy workshop, and the GreenGov Symposium.
Performance Status. Sulfur hexafluoride makes up the vast majority of fugitive gas emissions at LANL. According to LANL’s GHG 2008 emissions inventory, SF6 accounts for approximately 5% of total Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions when measured using metric tons of CO2 equivalent. SF6 purchases, disposal, and inventory are tracked with a computer program called ChemLog. Currently, LANL has two employees that participate in the DOE Fugitive Emissions working group.
Performance Status. As shown in Figure 1.4.7 employee commuting contributes the most to scope 3 GHG emissions at LANL. Several years ago, LANL implemented the 9/80 schedule, which gave employees the option to work 80 hours during nine days in a two-week period. This schedule option allowed employees to cut their commute distance and time by 10 percent. More recently, mass transit to LANL via bus has been expanded from the surrounding communities of Santa Fe and Espanola and also within Los Alamos and White Rock. In addition, the Rail Runner train became operational, so employees from the Albuquerque area have this option to connect with buses from Santa Fe to Los Alamos instead of driving personal vehicles. LANL provides taxi service for employees to travel between sites during the day so that fewer people require their personal vehicles. For many years, LANL has organized and continues a special section on its internal website to connect potential carpoolers with each other. LANL is actively increasing the use of virtual meetings to decrease the amount of business travel, including air flights and rental cars. The use of webinars has become much more common, which decreases the necessity to travel for training. Virtual meeting rooms exist where videoconferencing with multiple sites can be arranged. Sharing rental cars when possible is always encouraged. GHG emissions related to electricity transmission and distribution losses are directly related to the amount of electricity purchased and the distance to the energy source. Los Alamos County is planning a solar energy installation in the future. When the installation is complete, LANL may be able to get some of its energy from this renewable and local source. Losses related to transmission and distribution of this solar power would be very low. LANL operates a centralized wastewater treatment plant with aerobic and denitrification treatment. The GHG emissions from this plant are related to the number of employees working at LANL. This centralized treatment plant connected all areas at LANL in 1992 and consolidated three treatment systems into one. Approximately 200 employees currently reside in buildings that are served by septic tanks, and these septic tanks contributed the majority of the GHG emissions in this category. LANL has actively participated in pollution prevention for well over a decade, and one of the targets has always been to reduce the volume of municipal solid waste generated at LANL. All municipal solid wa...
Performance Status. LANL estimated its baseline GHG emissions for FY 2008 and compiled a table as shown in Table 1.4.8. LANL also submitted its CY 2009 annual GHG emission report to NMED in June 2010. LANL submitted its FY10 scope 3 emissions to the Pollution Prevention Tracking and Reporting System in December 2010. Complete FY 2010 data is not yet available, but in future years, LANL will present comparisons with the FY08 baseline in this report.
Performance Status. Los Alamos County and the Laboratory have a shared responsibility for many roads and utility systems. Nearly half the workforce in Los Alamos commutes from other counties. DOE maintains a number of agreements that allow the use of DOE right-of-ways/roads for public use. The DOE owns and maintains roads used by the public that come through the DOE property, East and West Jemez Roads, Diamond Drive, Camp May Road, and State Highway 4. The State Highway 4 is maintained by the State Highway Department where an easement exists between the DOE and the State of NM. East and West Jemez Roads and a small part of Diamond Drive and Camp May road are the responsibility of the DOE and therefore the Laboratory. The Omega Bridge, along Diamond Drive, is a main thoroughfare between the County and Laboratory sites and is the responsibility of the DOE. The arched bridge spans more than 800 feet over the 200 foot deep Los Alamos Canyon. This 1950’s bridge is important not only for commuters, but for emergency vehicles and utility pathways. The Laboratory maintains and allows use of a central transit station facility within TA-3 on DOE property. This central station allows three transit systems to converge at this point: The Laboratory taxi and bus system, the County of Los Alamos’s Atomic City Transit, and the State of New Mexico’s Department of Transportation Park and Ride who contracts with All-Aboard America providing a regional bus service. The Los Alamos Atomic Figure 1: Omega Bridge City transit provides transportation from the community of White Rock, at the southeast edge of the County, to the Los Alamos town-site, at the North end of the County, and within these communities. Electrical distribution to Los Alamos County is managed by the Los Alamos Power Pool; established in 1985. It is the Los Alamos Power Pool operates under a cooperative arrangement between DOE and the County of Los Alamos. Terms set by the County and DOE in the Electric Energy and Power Coordination Agreement govern the management and operation of the Pool, and the cost of electricity delivered. This agreement expires June 30, 2020. General transmission of power under the Los Alamos Power Pool comes from the San Xxxx Unit 4, El Vado Hydroelectric, Abiquiu Hydroelectric, Western Allocation, and Laramie River Station. A third hydroelectric unit has just been added to the Abiquiu Dam.1 During the spring and summer months, up to 32% of the installed capacity can be provided from the hydroelectric p...
Performance Status. In FY 2010, the LANL Generator Set Aside Funds (GSAF) program funded projects that contribute to water reduction goals. Specific projects include: Use of Biodiesel Co-product to Boost BOD at SWWS was initiated in FY 2010. Preliminary results indicate that it is possible to boost the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) at the LANL sanitary wastewater facility (SWWS) via crude glycerol, a by-product of biodiesel production. Long term implementation of this project may allow increased hydraulic throughput at the SWWS. Increased flows to the SWWS (hydraulic throughput) eventually end up at the planned expanded-SERF. Processing of sanitary effluent at the SERF will directly contribute to reductions in potable water consumption. The SWWS BOD project may allow increased flows to derive from routing cooling tower blowdown from permitted NPDES outfalls to the SWWS, and therein the SERF.
Performance Status. All projects that exceeded 1 acre of soil disturbance, or that were part of a larger common plan of development that collectively exceeded 1 acre, were performed under coverage of the NPDES Construction General Permit (CGP). One requirement of the CGP is that permitted sites include interim and permanent stabilization, managerial, structural solids, erosion, and sediment control Best Management Practices (BMPs) to prevent to the maximum extent practicable an increase in the flow velocity from pre-construction, pre-development conditions. During FY 2010, 54 LANL projects were subject to the CGP, and therefore implemented the required storm water management. This was achieved through the identification of predevelopment hydrology values and incorporating into the project design and construction BMPs that included revegetation of disturbed areas, velocity control, and storm water detention structures with controlled outlet structures.
