National Renewable Energy Laboratory

About the Project

The Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) housed on the campus of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is a state of the art facility for the advancement of clean energy technologies.

The Challenge

The ESIF will also include a high-performance computing data center (HPCDC) that will serve the needs of NREL, expanding the laboratory’s capabilities in modeling and simulation of renewable energy technologies and their integration into the existing energy infrastructure. The one-petaflop scale supercomputer will enable largescale modeling and simulation. These facilities needed to reduce their energy use.

The Solution

Using Construction Specialties Cantilevered and Vertical Sunshades, as well as Airfoil Lux Sunshades, will make the HPCDC one of the most energy efficient data centers in the world, operating at a power usage effectiveness (PUE) rating of 1.06 or better. The project is currently on track to achieve LEED Platinum. The NREL knows about saving energy and they chose to use CS Sun Controls on their facility.