The Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES), a public-private partnership of Boise State University, Idaho State University, and the University of Idaho, located in Idaho Falls, Idaho, is tasked with delivery of “innovative, cost-effective, credible energy research leading to sustainable technology-based economic environment”. A new case study by NEEA’s BetterBricks tells the story of how the three universities, along with other state agencies, collaborated to develop Idaho’s first public-agency-owned LEED building, to house the Laboratory in a building that would effectively represent its mission.

Two significant design workshops were scheduled, very early in the development and design process, to facilitate critical energy performance decisions by the project team:

An owner/user visioning charrette, held prior to the selection of a design team:

• Selected design-build for project delivery
• Set a performance target of 50 percent less energy use than a facility built to meet the then current energy code (ASHRAE 90.1-2001)
• Established Silver as the minimum level of LEED certification

A schematic design charrette, attended by multiple design and construction disciplines, applied an integrated design methodology to:

• Explore climate-responsive design strategies;
• Consider internal loads, daylighting, and visual and thermal comfort as additional space organization and planning criteria;
• Adjust the Energy goal adjusted to 35% better than the updated, more stringent code ASHRAE 90.1 2004; and
• Commit to ongoing analysis of energy performance and LEED-related costs and benefits.

The case study reviews lessons learned by the project team, including:

• Benefits of design build project delivery
• Success of the collaborative integrated design process
• Daylighting of laboratory, atrium, and office spaces
• The need for additional energy modeling iterations to track and inform evolving design/project team decisions
• The importance of commissioning sophisticated laboratory systems, as well as typical building systems
• Development of measurement and verification processes and procedures that effectively calibrate design assumptions with accurate representation of building, occupancy, and weather during the performance period.

Among the results, the project has received LEED Gold certification, and after two years, energy performance is tracking at 36 percent better than the modeled code baseline. Download the case study here .

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