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NASA is set to break ground on what the agency expects to be the highest-performing building in the federal government's portfolio. Named Sustainability Base, the building at Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, Calif., will be a showplace for sustainable technologies, featuring some of the agency's most advanced recycling and intelligent controls technologies originally developed to support NASA's human and robotic space exploration missions. Goals for the project include: 1) zero net energy consumption for the building, 2) reduce potable water consumption by more than 90% compared to an equivalent-sized building of conventional design, and 3) minimize building maintenance costs.
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