Building Integrity

1 Building Envelope Integrity

The roof and most of the walls use structural insulated panels (SIPs). The SIPs are composed of oriented strand board (OSB) panels that sandwich expanded polystyrene foam. SIPs have foam cores with a thickness of either 5.5 in. (0.14 m) or 7.5 in. (0.19 m). In many places the interiors are left unfinished, and the OSB is exposed to the inside. Some recycled materials in the building include galvanized steel siding, galvanized roofing, and medium density fiberboard.

Windows

Windows use spectrally selective, low-e glazing with wood frames. South-facing windows form a passive part of the lighting and HVAC systems. In the summer, overhangs shade the glass from the high summer sun and shield the facility from unnecessary solar gains.
The sun louvers are made of salvaged pickle barrel staves which is one kind of recycle materials.

2 Rain Water Collection System

Three rainwater collection systems serve all the non potable water needs of the building. The largest system collects rainwater from the roof of the main building.
The rainwater passes through a particulate and organic matter reduction filter before being stored in three, 6,500-gal (24.6-m3) cisterns on the north side of the building.
After the storage tanks, the water is chlorinated and carbon filtered. A minimum water level is maintained for the fire protection system. If the water falls below the minimum required for fire protection, it is made up with well water.
Under normal operating and weather conditions, there is an ample supply of rainwater. Excess rainwater flows off as stormwater through an overflow drain.
A heat exchanger, which is controlled by the EMS and connected to the boiler hot-water system, protects the cistern water from freezing. This freeze protection system did not operate during the monitoring period.
Two smaller systems collect rainwater from the downspouts of the main building and conference pavilion for landscape watering and for washing boots and equipment.

Merrill Center north entrance shows rainwater storage tanks and north clerestories

Source: National Renewable Energy Laboratory

3 Fire Safety

Telecommunications, fire alarms, emergency lighting, and exit signs are adopted in the building.

4 Whole-Building Evaluation Methodology

NREL（The National Renewable Energy Laboratory ） used detailed energy metering and compared collected data with the monthly metering of utilities to evaluate the Merrill Center.
NREL has monitored the building continuously since August 2001.
NREL used monitoring data for weather and operational schedules to develop a computer-simulated baseline model of a conventional energy code-compliant building. An as-built model of the building could not be developed for this project because of the complexity of the HVAC systems and the late addition of water source heat pumps in EnergyPlus. Developing an as-built model and comparing it to a baseline model would have been helpful, but we were only able to compare the actual measurements to a well-calibrated baseline model.
The objective of the monitoring was to measure the performance of the building over the course of an entire year. Performance metrics analyzed include site energy savings, source energy savings, and energy cost savings.