Thursday, April 30, 2009

INL Announces Plans for $48 Million Leed Certified Energy & Research Building in Idaho Falls

IDAHO FALLS – The Idaho National Laboratory has announced plans for a new flagship facility at its Idaho Falls campus. INL selected the Boyer Company of Salt Lake City to build a roughly 131,000-square-foot, $48-million building between the lab's two main Idaho Falls facilities. INL will occupy the building through a long-term lease agreement with the Boyer Company.

The new Research and Education Laboratory will act as the "front door" to neighboring campus facilities and become the interface between the public and the INL staff. It is conceived as a state-of-the-art laboratory that creates a collaborative environment between INL employees, partners and visitors. School field trips, conference attendees and visiting scientists will be able to use the space to collaborate on research and learn about INL and contemporary research activities.

The new facility will be Gold certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) by the U.S. Green Building Council. Green buildings — also called "sustainable buildings," "resource-efficient buildings" or "high-performance buildings" — minimize the impact on the environment by using less energy and water, reducing solid waste and pollutants, and limiting the depletion of natural resources.

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