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The Oregon Sustainability Center will receive federally-funded consulting from federal energy labs, the U.S. Department of Energy announced.

The technical assistance consulting, worth an undetermined amount between $200,000 and $1 million, was granted as a part of the federal to connect building owners and operators with national labs, according to Oregon Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies spokesman Gregg Kleiner.

Oregon BEST – the group is in charge of the Oregon Sustainability Center’s research agenda – is one of 24 groups selected to receive the consulting services. The groups chosen are working on projects that would significantly reduce the energy use in commercial buildings. In total, the groups will receive $21 million worth of consulting services, according to U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

Consultant services on the sustainability center will be performed by the energy department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Berkeley consultants will provide guidance on architectural design, energy modeling and energy measurement to get the center to net-zero, Kleiner said. Net-zero energy use means the building will produce all of the energy it needs on site using passive solar, highly-insulated envelopes and other design methods.

The total cost for the Oregon Sustainability Center is budgeted at $75 million.