2016 CDC HHS Green Champion Award Winners and Honorable Mentions

Bruce Jue (CDC)

Bruce Jue, Energy and Water Manager with the Office of Safety, Security and Asset Management (OSSAM) Engineering, Maintenance, and Operations Services Office (EMOSO), has significantly contributed to the success of CDC’s sustainability program. His dedication, expertise and innovative thinking have led to countless savings of both scarce resources and taxpayer dollars through leadership of several capital projects.

Overcoming constant obstacles, Bruce demonstrates patience, technical knowledge, and the ability to share with leadership and team members the practical and economic value of sustainability projects. During the recent administration of the performance contracts in Atlanta and Pittsburgh, Bruce worked seamlessly across divisions to educate staff and facilitate a successful contracting process. Without Bruce’s leadership, these projects would undoubtedly be much more challenging. Additionally, Bruce goes above and beyond to educate his peers to ensure they are engaged in efficiency efforts across CDC.

FITWEL Certification of CDC Chamblee Building: Stephen Klim, Aidan Ganzert, Joanne Cole, Ron Garner, Michael Payne, Heidi Blanck, Joel Kimmons, Ruth Petersen, Desiree Brown, Liz York

In an effort to create robust and healthy built environments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the General Services Administration (GSA), and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) led the effort to create Fitwel, a voluntary national certification that supports healthier building environments and improves employee health and productivity.

Fitwel, originally an acronym for “Facility Innovations Toward Wellness Environment Leadership,” assesses the healthiness of building environments and offers ways to improve building occupants’ health and wellness. Fitwel is based on the premise that all buildings, new or existing, can incentivize wellness through health-supporting building amenities and policies.

A CDC-owned building located on the Chamblee campus received an exemplary three stars (highest possible score) for FITWEL Certification in FY 2016. This achievement can be attributed to the strong partnership between various centers within CDC.

North American Laboratory Freezer Challenge (CDC): Emily Hays, Aidan Ganzert, Lauren Dufort, Liz York, Allen Doyle, Debra Kuehl, Phil Wirdzek, Allison Paradise, Kathy Ramirez-Agular, Kristi Budzinski

In 2012, CDC created a pilot program to demonstrate freezer management as a means to save energy in laboratories. In 2017, the program expanded to include participants from academia, nonprofit, public, and private sector organizations. Working together, the steering committee developed the inaugural North American Laboratory Freezer Challenge and recruited 1,300 labs from 200 institutions throughout the country to participate.

The 3-month North American Laboratory Freezer Challenge (NALFC) was designed to reduce energy use, cut operating costs, and expand storage capacity in laboratories without the need for new equipment or space. Laboratory professionals from CDC National Centers in Atlanta, Georgia, and Maryland participated in the Challenge, each earning an award for their achievements in adopting cost- and energy-saving cold storage practices.

CDC’s main campus laboratories house hundreds of ultra-low temperature freezers (e.g., -40℃ to -86℃), each requiring $2,000 to $4,000 in energy costs annually and as much energy consumption as a 2,500 square foot home (~9,000 kWh/year). Challenge participants reduced costs and energy demands associated with these appliances by emptying and unplugging freezers and improving cold-storage practices within their laboratories. CDC’s participation in the NALFC will build on the success of the previous challenge and continue to demonstrate cost and energy savings for the agency in future years.

CDC Remote Access Systems: Dave Ausefski, Lee Eilers, Andrew Davy, Philip Lindsey

The CDC Information Technology Services Office (ITSO) Shared Services Office architected, implemented, and maintained the CDC Remote Access System, which has significantly reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by supporting the expansion of Office Hoteling projects and enabling and supporting the CDC Telework Program. Specifically, the Remote Access System, VPN and CITGO (CDC IT On the Go),  provides a remote access system that enables more than 22,000 unique staff members to work remotely, and as many as 9,000 simultaneous staff members to remotely access all CDC IT facilities from just about any location around the world where Internet access is available. This system has substantially decreased GHG emissions by reducing the number of miles driven and electrical consumption as well as reducing office space footprints.

CDC Unified Communications Upgrade Project: Richard Self, Clarence Benyard, Troy Nick, Chris Gandy

The CDC Information Technology Services Office (ITSO) Network Technology Branch has architected, implemented, and maintained the CDC Skype/Lync system, which provides CDC staff access to their phone and voicemail as well as the ability to attend meetings remotely. This expanded Skype system upgrade has saved CDC staff hundreds of thousands of travel miles thereby substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This newly expanded Skype system has substantially changed the way staff work and attend meetings at CDC.

CDC ITSO Mobile Device Management Project: Dave Ausefski, Lee Eilers, Andrew Davy, Philip Lindsey

The CDC Information Technology Services Office (ITSO) Shared Services Office recently upgraded and expanded the mobile device access system to include iOS and Android phones and tablets through Citrix XenMobile. This insightful upgrade enables the growing list of 3,800 CDC iOS and Android users to access CDC information technology (IT) systems, including email and intranet, remotely from their mobile devices, thereby substantially reducing electricity consumption, reducing the number of multiple devices and further supporting telework and mobile access to CDC IT facilities.

CDC Building Heat Exchanger Project: Bruce Jue, Jeff Bowen, Larry Rountree, Craig Belflower, Paul Probst, Steve Koob

As a result of a continuous commissioning initiative, CDC facilities staff identified multiple issues with the operation of the chilled water heat exchangers in a building on the Roybal campus. The staff implemented changes to the Building Automation System (BAS) programming & BAS setpoints to improve the operational efficiency of the chilled water heat exchangers and now saves approximately 1,110 million British thermal units (Btu) annually.

Grant W. King (CDC)

Grant W. King is a Mechanical Engineer at the CDC NIOSH Spokane Research Laboratory who started a glass recycling program. He started the program by obtaining permission from the building maintenance staff and then purchased and labeled a recycling bin for the break room. Once there was a bin in place, the program was readily adopted by the lab staff. In fact, the program has been so successful that it now includes plastic recycling. Mr. King weighs and records the amount of the recyclable items in the full bins, transports the recyclables to his home, and recycles them in his city curbside recycling program. Since starting this recycling program in 2015, more than 534 pounds of glass and plastic has been recycled. This recycling program saves energy, reduces pollution and the negative health effects associated with that pollution, and reduces the amount of material going into landfills – all of which are directives of the Federal Executive Order 13693 and the HHS Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan.

CDC America Recycles Day at Emory Point: Emily Hays, Aidan Ganzert, Lauren Dufort, Lauren Holman, Taylor Spicer, Deena Keeler, Stacy Schuch, Liz York, Willie Potter

CDC collaborated with Emory University and Emory Point (a mixed-use retail and residential space) to jointly host an America Recycles Day event on November 15, 2016. America Recycles Day is a nationally celebrated event organized by Keep America Beautiful. CDC, Emory University, and Emory Point collaborated to combine resources to jointly host a recycling drive along the Clifton Corridor (where all three hosts have facilities in less than a half-mile proximity to each other). An accessible drop-off location at Emory Point provided local residents, CDC staff, and Emory students a convenient way to drop off recyclable items throughout the day. The group collected hazardous waste materials, paper, plastic, glass, cardboard, clothing, e-waste, and more. In total, the event collected 13,000 pounds of recyclables (excluding hazardous materials), 200 pairs of shoes (donated to Soles4Souls), and filled 6 trucks with items for Emory Surplus.

CDC NIOSH Pittsburgh Campus Single Stream Recycling (CDC): Branch McCune, Jeff Hayes, Ron Cummings

The CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Pittsburgh performed a complete overhaul of the waste program as well as the associated contracts to perform said work. The initial results included the development of a single stream recycling program, which eliminates the need to sort different types of recycled materials. Employees now have two waste bins; one for dry (recyclables) and one for wet (trash). Preliminary numbers show NIOSH is recycling as high as 75% of all refuse leaving the site. NIOSH is also eliminating the current trash pickup format of 72 daily pickups and moving to eight dumpsters with bi-weekly pickup. This has an estimated savings of $47,000 per year.

This program augments the utility construction activities on site that are by contract required to divert over 75% of construction waste as well as responsible for the capture of potentially harmful refrigerants and CFCs from removed equipment.

CDC Wellness Room Best Practices Design Guide: Liz York, Joyce Lee, Aidan Ganzert, Yubei Huang, Tong Niu

The Wellness Room Best Practices Design Guide is a groundbreaking partnership project bridging wellness, architecture, and sustainability. This guide is an update on earlier work in 2008 – creating lactation spaces for women in the workplace. In addition to creating graphics and updated resources on the topic, the updated Wellness Room Design Guide project: 1) offers architects worldwide a new tool to significantly improve buildings where mothers with young children are working or visiting; 2) condenses the latest international research on such rooms in an authoritative format; and 3) provides sustainable environments that literally support the nurturing and growth of mentally, emotionally and healthier children. This updated version incorporates key expert revisions, including three-dimensional images and translated versions in Spanish and Chinese. The guide has been widely reported on in the architecture space. The AIA national blog outlet reported a 90,000-person viewership of an article on the guide. The guide has also been shared with the CDC lactation support program, infant feeding team, and the obesity prevention and control branch.

CDC Visitors Center Solar Panel Project: Bruce Jue, Stephen Klim, Emily Hays, Aidan Ganzert, Judy Gantt, Alex Rogers, Steve Powell

The video features the CDC’s first building-integrated photovoltaic (PV) panel project, consisting of 36 modules, slated to offset electricity use for CDC’s Global Communications Center and the adjacent parking deck. Small in scale, the 9 kilowatt (kW) system generates enough energy to offset potential uses such as media operations, typical building plug loads, and/or future electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. The project also includes a monitoring dashboard that informs the public about CDC’s solar energy production.

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CDC Computer Ordering Arrangement: Vicki Johnson, Tiffany Ivy, June Humphrey, Howard Smith, Tim Horner, Alex Null

The CDC Information Technology Services Office (ITSO) Business Service Office created and implemented the Dell Computer Ordering Arrangement to ensure sustainable acquisition of information technology (IT) equipment at CDC. This purchasing agreement was implemented by ITSO in an effort to ensure all IT equipment purchased complies with Energy Star and EPEAT power-saving standards as established by current executive orders, and complies with new purchasing guidelines set forth in the current FITARA requirements. This purchasing vehicle streamlines the IT Purchasing Process saving hundreds of man-hours.

CDC Lawrenceville Building Repair Project: Bill Dryden, Arthur Lingler, Michael Stepp, Paul Vinson, Angela Wagner, Bruce Jue, Stephen Klim, Lauren Dufort

In 2010, CDC performed a sustainable building assessment of a multi-function building on CDC’s Lawrenceville Campus. The assessment established a baseline towards meeting the Federal Guiding Principles requirements and energy and water use baselines. In FY 2016, a repair project was completed on the building that not only brought it into compliance with the Guiding Principles, but also to LEED certification standards.

Some highlights include low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), recycled materials, and creative re-use of furnishings slated for the landfill thereby reducing traditional construction and procurement costs. This was accomplished while diverting over 93% of construction waste from landfills. To enhance these already impressive features, CDC awarded an energy savings performance contract that includes an on-site ground mount solar PV array that will offset 100% of the building’s energy consumption. This represents a milestone and will be CDC’s first energy net-zero facility, years ahead of required targets and goals.

CDC Campus Wastewater Treatment Initiative: Bruce Jue, Stephen Klim, Emily Hays, Sarah Gray, Jeff Bowen, Neal Bowman, Liz York, Lauren Dufort

Executive Order 13693 goals, aging infrastructure, increased water scarcity and rising rates for potable water use make it imperative that CDC reduce and conserve its reliance on the potable water supply. Along with several planned and implemented water conservation measures across the agency, CDC’s Asset Management Services Office (AMSO) formed a work group to explore opportunities for on-site wastewater treatment applications in campus process water. As a first step, the work group collaborated with local peer, Emory University, to learn about the WaterHub, their on-site bio-treatment facility.

CDC is exploring possibilities for its own alternative process water installation and plans to continue this project throughout 2017. The work group is currently conducting market research of applicable technologies, as well as identifying procurement options for the project once identified.

CDC Chamblee Transit Shuttle Service: Thayra Riley, Marc Jastremski, Shirley D. Alston, James Clausell, Kenneth R. Tatum, Paul A. Gray, Ryan Fisher, Alfonso Bell, Caronzo Davis, Bellinda Wolfe

In October 2016, CDC’s Transportation Services Office (TSO) initiated two new transit shuttle services for staff. The Parking Services Team, led by Thayra Riley, spearheaded the expansion of shuttles to the Chamblee campus as well as the development of a Shuttle Reservation System. These efforts were supported by several members of the Fleet Service Team and contract shuttle drivers. The shuttle expansion was part of a comprehensive strategic capacity planning effort to reduce single occupant vehicle (SOV) trips, relieve issues resulting from additional personnel and guests parking on CDC campuses, and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with commuter travel. The Chamblee Transit Shuttle, which began in October as a pilot program from the Chamblee campus to the Chamblee MARTA Station with 91 riders, now has over 450 riders. It has become an integral part of services provided by TSO at CDC. The Intercampus Shuttle Service has offset over 438 SOV trips in the same time period. Both shuttle services enhance sustainability and significantly reduce GHG emissions resulting from commuter travel.

CDC Pittsburgh Campus Utility Electric Vehicles: Jeff Hayes, Shirley Alston

CDC’s National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Pittsburgh campus is sprawling with many buildings, facilities and roads. The research and operations at this site are also very diverse, posing a great challenge for transportation from remote areas of campus.  This was traditionally expedited with typical gas fueled cars and trucks, for example the Ford F150 or Fusion. Now GEM electric vehicles are replacing the much larger and more expensive traditional cars and trucks.

CDC Summer Peak Alert Energy Savings Initiative: Bruce Jue, Stephen Klim, Emily Hays, Craig Belflower, Ted Hyatt, John Shepard, Lauren Dufort, Linnet Griffiths, Kiana Morris, Ron Garner

As part a pilot program, the heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and lighting systems of a building on CDC’s Atlanta Chamblee campus were modified for 24 days. During this time, systems went into “unoccupied mode” to ramp down lighting and cooling at 5:00 p.m. instead of 6:30 p.m. Members of CDC staff re-programmed building automation systems to accommodate the new setback time and collected associated utility use and rate data for the pilot period. Communications staff also circulated summer “Peak Alert” notifications to encourage employees to save energy in their offices during days of extreme heat.

CDC Chamblee Campus Lighting Efficiency Project: Stephen Klim, Ted Hyatt, Steve China, Gary Waller, Charles Carrouth

CDC has been aggressive in efforts to reduce energy and operating expenses by installing LED lighting in both new and existing facilities. This year, efforts of several projects on the Chamblee Campus were combined to reach a common goal. Due to their durability and high efficiency, CDC’s engineering and facilities teams worked together to install LED light bulbs wherever feasible. These light bulbs use only 40% of the energy regular light bulbs use and have a duration of over 15 years. Several office renovation projects in various buildings utilized LED lighting to save energy and operating expenses, in addition to improving lighting quality to aid in sensitive tasks.

CDC NIOSH Cincinnati Green Team: James Kesner, Gregory Kinnes, Melissa Seaton, Marsha Gran, Kendra Broadwater, Jessica Ramsey, Diane Morrise, Douglas Wiegand, Leonard Zwack, Jessica Li

CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Cincinnati Green Team was created in 2007 by the NIOSH Management Operations Officer in response to Federal sustainability acts and orders.  The team works to coordinate sustainable activities and educates staff on recycling methods and benefits. The team has 10 active members who are involved in numerous ongoing initiatives. The group has representation and voting rights in the Education and Information Division Steering Committee, is involved in monthly recycling “sorting” events, donates recycled items to schools, collects and separates items from Cincinnati conferences, supports eco-friendly programs, initiated a “green” commuter parking spot, and supports bike to work efforts.

CDC Market16 Café: Bruce Jue, Stephen Klim, Stan Langley, Craig Belflower, Michael Payne, Tim Davenport, Philippa Butts, Kendrick Johnson, Daryl Young, Tommy Kendricks

In 2016, CDC opened its new, “Market16 Cafe.” The design and construction team combined innovative designs with traditional cafeteria efficiencies to create a distinctive venue for dining and gathering. Key criteria for the new café include improved functionality, the unique use of materials, flexibility in the use of space, and a wide variety of menu choices including organic and sustainable meal options. The team also focused on creating high levels of maintainability and sustainability that would last the lifetime of the facility.