North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences' planned 79,000-square-foot Nature Research Center (NRC) is an innovative scientific research and education facility designed to bring current natural science topics into the public eye. NRC will feature functioning laboratories that are viewed by the general public. The goals of the facility are to lower operating costs, reduce waste, conserve energy and water, provide a healthier and safer environment for NRC visitors and staff, reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and exemplify environmental stewardship and social responsibility. NRC plans to achieve a base building energy savings of 35 percent over similarly designed buildings and save at least 40 percent of the water normally used in a facility of this type.
In order to reach these goals, the museum plans to reduce overall energy costs, overall water consumption, and chlorofluorocarbons in HVAC and refrigeration equipment. One of the strategies for this plan is to obtain power from renewable sources, including utilizing on-site renewable energy systems to minimize energy building consumption. Development of an energy and water management plan with a goal of annual verification and documentation of system performance and accountability will be implemented. Stormwater discharge upon downtown Raleigh's infrastructure will be minimized to encourage water efficiency. The Museum also plans to install base building level HVAC, refrigeration equipment, and fire suppression systems that do not contain hydrochlorofluorocarbons or Halon. Labs21 is advising on green building design strategies to meet a high Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design® Standard and as well as standards set by North Carolina’s High Performance Guidelines: Triangle Region Public Facilities. NRC will serve as a model facility to educate the public on the benefits of green design.
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The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is the oldest established museum in North Carolina, the largest museum of its kind the in Southeast, and has 700,000 visitors annually, making it the most visited attraction in the state. More than one million natural science specimens, one of the most significant research collections in the southeastern United States, are housed in this state-of-the-art structure and a nearby research laboratory. For more information, please visit the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences website. 
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