Case Study: National Renewable Energy Laboratory achieves $406,000/year energy savings and major carbon reductions with Ameresco's 10 MBtu/hr wood biomass heating facility

National Renewable Energy Laboratory - Customer Case Study

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado needed to reduce fossil fuel consumption and lower operating costs while supplying hot water to a new Science and Technology Facility and helping achieve higher LEED certification. NREL selected Ameresco under the Department of Energy’s BAMF ESPC to evaluate options and replace natural gas heating with a biomass solution.

Ameresco designed, built and maintains a 10 MBtu/hr Renewable Fuel Heating Facility (RFHF) that uses local wood waste, slash and yard debris in a Challenger Combustion System™ with a heat recovery boiler and automated controls to produce about 600 gallons of hot water per minute. The $3.3 million project saves roughly $406,000 annually, displaces significant carbon emissions (equivalent to planting 434 acres of trees, removing 389 cars, eliminating 229,000 gallons of gasoline and powering 247 homes), and reduced NREL’s reliance on fossil-fueled energy while supporting higher LEED certification.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory