The team selected an urban site in midtown St. Louis, Mo. They chose this site because the city has a distinct four-season climate, electricity costs in Missouri are among the country’s lowest, and more than 80 percent of the state’s electricity is generated by coal-fired plants—so the power is cheap and dirty. The 170,735-sq.-ft., Net Zero Co2urt, is a new prototype for a reasonably priced, readily constructible, and marketable zero carbon emissions office buildings.

Carbon neutral designs always will be location-specific but there are some similarities to the NW with this example (low electricity rates) so this is worth a read. There are also few examples of net zero buildings out there, especially of large buildings. Like the hospital “Targeting 100” prototype developed with NBBJ, the Puget Sound Integrated Design Lab and NEEA’s BetterBricks is currently developing a similar office prototype for the Pacific Northwest. So stay tuned to see an example of how we can achieve net zero in the Northwest!

ZGF reported that they have now benchmarked all their projects worked on by the Seattle office and were advancing with other offices. Just the fact of reporting (mostly modeled performance at this point) has had an impact on the firm’s interest in improving performance.

NBBJ has been working on reviewing and revising their practice since 2006. Part of that process has been the use of the IDL Puget Sound to help in research and tracking. In early 2008 they signed on to the 2030 Challenge of Architecture 2030 and in early 2009 they signed on the the AIA’ 2030 Firm Commitment.  Part of that commitment requires reportiong on project performance in terms of energy and carbon emissions.

Chris Jordan, a Seattle-based artist, delivered a very interesting keynote address on the impacts of mass consumption.  Check out his work here www.chrisjordan.com.

NEEA’s BetterBricks initiative will be exploring the findings from the two Northwest firms in a future article. Stay tuned.

A groundbreaking new research effort reveals how hospitals, which account for four percent of all energy consumed in the U.S., can achieve a 60 percent reduction in energy utility use by redesigning the way they use energy. A newly constructed, code-compliant hospital in the Northwest following the process and employing strategies identified in the research can expect to save around $730,000 a year.  Savings in other areas can be higher where utility prices are higher. All sectors of the medical industry are tackling issues of sustainability as providers continue to be asked to do more with less and lighten their impact on the environment.  This work represents one of the latest contributions to the ongoing push to green America’s hospitals and build healthier communities. The most salient outcome of this work is the definition of a process that brings together architectural, mechanical and central plant systems to deliver significant efficiencies. These strategies include heat recovery, daylighting, and thermal energy storage, which when integrated at the very beginning, can reduce up to 60 percent of a new hospital’s energy use. This approach resulted in a full hospital prototype that has been modeled for energy use as well as cost of construction and can be implemented for less than three percent of the total project’s cost, an incremental cost that is expected to be recouped through energy savings and utility incentives within the first five-to-eight years of a building’s life depending on local utility costs.

The study was presented at the CleanMed Conference in Baltimore on May 11, 2010. To read an executive summary of Targeting 100! click HERE. To request a copy of the full report, click HERE. For Energy in Healthcare Fact Sheet, click HERE.

The study, titled, “Targeting 100! Envisioning the high performance hospital: implications for a new, low energy, high performance prototype,” is the result of the close collaboration of the University of Washington’s Integrated Design Lab and NBBJ, one of the nation’s leading healthcare architectural firms. The study was primarily funded by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) through its BetterBricks initiative, with significant in-kind time commitment by NBBJ and others on the research team including engineers, general contractors, utilities, hospital CEOs and facilities managers.

Previous research conducted by the UW’s IDL of Scandinavian hospitals showed that a hospital can achieve an Energy Use Index (EUI) of 100 and still provide patients and staff with an exceptional work and healing environment. An Energy Use Index, or EUI, is the total amount of energy used by a building (electricity and natural gas) per square foot of floor area, measured on an annual basis to establish baseline energy use.  The EUI value for a building is used in a similar manner as MPG is used to describe the efficiency of an automobile.

This study shows that hospitals in the U.S. can also aim for an EUI of 100 and achieve similar successful outcomes while fully complying with codes. To put this in perspective, the EUI of an average Northwest hospital is 270 KBtu/sq.ft.yr.

The fifth annual Puget Sound BetterBricks Awards wrapped up a few weeks and ushered in a new batch green building overachievers.  The aim of these Awards are to both recognize energy efficiency achievements in commercial buildings as well as inspire others to embrace high performance buildings.

This year’s Award winners and finalists were honored at a reception of  nearly 200 people the evening of the 25th at Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park.  The award winners and finalists are listed below.  For more information, visit www.BetterBricks.com/Awards, read the press release or download Seattle Business Magazine’s special report.

Owner/Developer

Those who make decisions about strategic direction regarding investments in high performance buildings. These executives, developers, owners and managers support, authorize and generally enable high performance building to be built and operated.

Winner — Kevin Brown, Senior Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer, Swedish Medical Center

Architecture

Those who design buildings and lead the design team on projects that consistently achieve high levels of energy efficiency in both new construction and major renovations.

Winner — Margaret Montgomery, Principal, NBBJ

Finalists — Chris Flint Chatto, Sustainable Designer, ZGF Architects

Design Engineer

Those who design buildings and lead the design team on projects that consistently achieve high levels of energy efficiency in both new construction and major renovations.

Winner — Tom Marseille, Principal, Stantec Consulting Services, Inc.

Finalist — Peter Alspach, Associate, Arup

Facility Manager / Building Operations

Open to a team or an individual who operates and manages the facilities of a building including facility directors, managers and building operators.

Winner — Unico Properties Energy Management Team: Clarence Clipper, Brett Philips and  Mike Bedsworth, Unico Properties

Finalists — Mike Anderson, Buildings & Grounds Manager, Bellingham School District; Earl Wayman, Senior Property Manager, GVA Kidder Matthews

Service Provider

Those individuals who provide services to the efficient operations of commercial buildings including mechanical contractors, control companies, equipment manufacturers and commissioning agents.

Winner — Danny Miller, Managing Principal, Performance Mechanical Group

Advocate

Those who advocate for and support the design and operation of high performance buildings including consultants, government, non-profit, educators, and others.

Winner — A-P Hurd, Vice President, Touchstone Corporation

Multi-Disciplinary Team

A team of professionals for integrated design on a specific high performance building project or projects that includes three or more of the following professionals: an owner/developer representative, architect, engineer (mechanical, electrical, structural), consultants, and building contractor (if involved during design).

Winner — NetRiver Phase II Expansion Team: Paul Harris & Adam Vierra, NetRiver; Dave Mackenzie, Design Real Estate; Neil Bavins & Al Thompson, Puget Sound Refrigeration; Randy Valerio, D. Hittle & Associates; Todd Brunner, Brunner Construction.