Green from the Inside Out: Berkeley Lab Sets New Standards

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Biological and Environmental Program Integration Center sets new sustainability standards.

Berkeley Lab Biological and Environmental Program Integration Center (BioEPIC) unites scientists from LBNL’s biosciences and earth and environmental sciences areas in a four-story, 71,000-square-foot facility that sets a new standard for sustainability. Completed in March, the facility offers a suite of next-generation tools designed to study how microbial communities interact with plants and soil to influence the environment.

Inside, 200 researchers perform carefully controlled experiments on microbe-soil-plant interactions with instruments and computing infrastructure that connect BioEPIC to its field research sites. These unique climate research environments, along with three additional levels of labs and collaborative spaces, are housed in an all-electric facility designed to maximize energy efficiency and resiliency.

By supporting an array of unique research needs in this highly sustainable setting, the BioEPIC
building delivers state-of-the-art functionality and performance while upholding LBNL’s commitment to reducing its climate, waste, and water footprint.

The Clark team worked with Sustainable Berkeley Lab to integrate features that minimize the building’s utility costs and environmental impact. The design was guided by LBNL’s policy on Sustainable Standards for Construction and Major Renovations, which defines aggressive yet practical sustainability targets, enables cost-effective strategies for high-performance, and encourages integrated design. The performance goals for the building were driven by whole-building energy targets verified through modeling.

As a result, BioEPIC exceeds the high sustainability standards of LBNL and surpasses California code for energy efficiency by an impressive 48%. By supporting an array of unique research needs in this highly sustainable setting, the BioEPIC building delivers state-of-the-art functionality and performance while upholding LBNL’s commitment to reducing its climate, waste, and water footprint.