2RW was contracted to review the design of the new $24 million, three-story Mission Support Group Complex at Barksdale Air Force Base. Intended as a LEED Silver Certified facility, this administrative building includes command and control areas as well as conference rooms, classrooms, and workspaces for 15 units. 2RW recommended improvements to the design that will enable the Complex to achieve the 55% or greater reduction in the use of fossil fuels required by the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act.

Applying an energy model developed using Trane’s TRACE 700TM software, 2RW simulated a wide variety of energy conservation measures intended to achieve Zero Net Energy (ZNE) efficiency – wherein energy consumption is reduced to such a level that renewable resources can provide the balance of the building energy provided.

2RW analyzed strategies to minimize the heating and cooling loads, including improvements to the interior lighting design – such as installing high efficiency lighting fixtures along with automatic controls and daylight harvesting measures. Once heating and cooling loads were minimized, 2RW reviewed the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and suggested heat recovery options, thermal storage, and water-to-water heat pumps to further minimize the energy consumption of the building.

2RW was successful in identifying measures to reduce the energy consumption of the proposed design by 8% while eliminating natural gas use entirely.