The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has announced the commencement of construction of the domestic Energy Materials and Processing at Scale (EMAPS) facility in Golden, Colorado.  

This 127,000ft² laboratory is set to foster partnerships across various sectors to drive energy material innovations from the lab to market-ready solutions. 

JE Dunn Construction, along with design partner SmithGroup, was chosen in January this year to design and construct the facility, which is set for completion in 2027.  

JE Dunn project director Charlie Slattery said: “The ground-breaking of the new EMAPS facility marks a significant milestone in our ongoing partnership with NREL. 

“It represents the culmination of extensive collaboration and hard work from a dedicated team of stakeholders to make such a complex and innovative project a reality.” 

The EMAPS project has been allocated a budget of $224m and is designed to meet at least Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification standards, incorporating sustainable features such as reclaimed grey water and building heat reclaim technologies. 

The building will have open and adaptable spaces to facilitate rapid experimental setups and enhance collaborative efforts among researchers.  

This facility will tackle end-of-life and circularity issues within various energy technology domains, with an emphasis on polymers, packaging, and waste management throughout production processes and beyond. 

NREL director Martin Keller said: “We are excited to be on our way to building our new EMAPS facility.  

“The new capabilities we will gain from EMAPS will accelerate innovations in materials and processes that are essential to clean energy technologies, from lab-scale discovery to scale-up for commercialisation, allowing NREL to dig deeper into our current research while also pursuing exciting new avenues.”