U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Federal Energy Management Program

Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility

The Department of Interior's Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility in Alamogordo, New Mexico, is composed of office space, a conference room, a laboratory, indoor test bays, a technician shop, and a variety of other rooms.

Energy Improvements

Energy reduction at the Brackish Research Facility began in 2011 after an analysis of the facility's energy use was conducted. Results of the energy analysis contributed to the design plan to improve the building's energy efficiency. These improvements included:

• Rewiring indoor 24-hour lighting to wall switches
• Rewiring exterior parking lot lighting so that 30 of 37 dusk-to-dawn lights were deactivated two hours after dusk, resulting in an approximate energy savings of 61 kWh per day
• Reset the HVAC control system software for occupied and unoccupied modes.
• Rearranged HVAC ductwork to and from the electrical transformer and server rooms to take advantage of the waste heat for heating the test bay area
• Reduced temperature setting on the heat trace used on insulated plumbing throughout the site's 40 acres from 40°F to 32°F
• Readjusted the hot water heater from 135°F to 115°F
• Opened window blinds on the south side of the building to improve the solar heat gain in office areas during the winter.

The results of these improvements have been conservatively estimated to save more than 247,000 kWh compared with prior year.