High Performing Buildings - Winter 2011 - (Page 67)

leSSonS leARned even though the project didn’t have the funding to promote onsite energy generation from initial design, the building team created functionality and flexibility within the building’s infrastructure that included the necessary support for future onsite generation. subsequently, during construction, supplemental funding was secured for a 10 kW rooftop photovoltaic array mounted above the planted area on the vegetated roof. to design a high performing building, decisions on alternative strategies must be made by evaluating them with total building performance modeling. Although building teams may focus only on energy modeling, this project shows the importance of daylight modeling for balancing daylight and glare with the amount of energy used. designers need post-occupancy feedback on how the building is actually performing so this data can be used to continually tune building performance. for example, higher cooling season energy consumption shown in early electric bills led the design team to discover that the night-flushing regime designed was not being executed properly, and the issue was corrected. Widely divergent steam charges in the first year of operation led to the discovery of a malfunctioning ultrasonic steam meter. externally induced vibrations were causing the meter to register a flow even when the steam was fully shut off. The building likely used less steam than building data indicates, but steam consumption is still higher than modeled. The local utility has adjusted the meter repeatedly, although ongoing readings still suggest some discrepancy between actual and metered consumption. The design team, the building engineer, the commissioning agent and the local utility continue to communicate and investigate. This challenge serves as a reminder that operating a building as designed is not always a straightforward achievement. the building’s vegetated roof is the first for the city of denver, demonstrating that policy can be shifted in the face of compelling evidence. Calculations show that the 4 in. vegetated roof meets storm water control rights regulations while providing sufficient water to support sedum and drought tolerant plant species. This roof is the subject of ongoing monitoring and research. unexpected insights that sent the design in a direction different from the original concept. The elliptical profile of the reflector grid on a standard fluorescent light fixture provided the inspiration for an array of south-facing sail shapes suspended below the atrium glazing. The building team selected a small sail making company in Portland that fabricated the sails using materials and technology from HPB.hotims.com/33326-20 http://HPB.hotims.com/33326-20 http://www.ruskin.com/ http://www.ruskin.com/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of High Performing Buildings - Winter 2011

High Performing Buildings - Winter 2011
Commentary
Contents
Portland State's Shattuck Hall
Oberlin College's Adam Joseph Lewis Center
Dell Children's Medical Center
CMTA Office Building
EPA Region 8 Headquarters
Honda's East Liberty, Marysville Auto Plants
Advertisers Index

High Performing Buildings - Winter 2011