"Greenest Office Building in the World" Coming Up

When completed, it will be the "greenest office building in the world."

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's 218,000-square-foot Research Support Facility, being built in Golden, Colorado, will be a LEED Platinum certified building when it is finished in 2010.

Platinum is the highest LEED (Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design) certification offered by the U.S. Green Building Council. The other categories are Certified, Silver and Gold.

According to NREL, the building will exceed Platinum requirements by sending power to the grid. The building will include a rooftop photovoltaic system, daylighting, natural ventilation and other energy-efficiency features.

NREL's annual energy goal for the building is 25,000 Btu per square foot. It promises the facility will be "a showcase for energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies."

(Photo: Computer rendering from the Research Support Facility concept design.)