NASA Takes LEED in New Building Design

Not content to set their sights strictly on new worlds, NASA has given the green light to doing their part to look after the only one we call home.

In a development presented by Clara Moskowitz writing at Space.com and described as among the most environmentally friendly construction projects in the entire federal government, the building is targeted for completion in late 2011 and will cost approximately $20 million.

Planned for the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Mountain View, Calif., the office building promises to set lofty standards for energy and water use.

Going beyond the solar panels and water recycling systems one would expect of a building that aims for LEED certification, the NASA building's functions will be governed by a computerized control system initially developed for systems control on NASA's spacecraft.

The centralized system will be able to fine tune climate control functions based on data as varied as up-to-the-minute weather information as well as data describing how many people are in the building.

Planned for use as office space with the potential to house some limited research functions, the facility itself will serve as inspiration for employees to mind their footprints on an ongoing basis. Personal energy usage will be tracked and reported back to individuals who will be working inside the facility. Ames Research Center associate director Steve Zornetzer explains:

"We want people in the building to compete, to try to optimize their own energy efficiency so they can get the greatest amount of work done with the least amount of watts."

(Photo credit: Aerial view of Ames Research Center, NASA)