High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012 - (Page 54)

Big Picture • Elective • Rooftop features are nice: include beautiful feature vs. LEED Gold? • High performance design is often a big change for clients, and difficult for them • Best solutions (to achieve sustainable design?) are not yet here • Sustainability = long term outlook + daily maintenance leed • Aim units originally installed had to be changed • Automatic shade awnings retracted when conditions were windy (thus losing shade) • Some innovative materials delaminated • Fan-coil units should have been four-pipe, rather than two-pipe; little cost penalty • Implementing energy management software was challenging Questions raised • What © rmA Architectural Photography higher (said with respect to trying for a certain LEED level) • The LEED process can be expedited • Cost of applying for LEED certification is not so bad daylighting/lighting controls • Daylighting controls are always evolving • Tuning occupancy sensors can be time-consuming • Fiberoptic daylighting control system is expensive o&m • Actual are optimal thermostat control settings during natural ventilation? • When should heat recovery wheels be operated? • What are the proper humidity settings for the musical instruments? good Things Happen, Too! • Actual needs of users are paramount (as opposed to what the designers think they are) • Operation and maintenance must be emphasized to stay efficient • Careful monitoring of conditions in the first year is important Beware/Wish i Hadn’t/or What didn’t go exactly as Planned • Beware building performance was better than the models due to the recovery wheels • Daylighting and energy simulation models were accurate • Recycling room became a social hub • Building was a pilot for the state, and a $150,000 rebate was received • Green roof and gardens were a big success These lists briefly summarize the lessons learned for these eight buildings. The authors usually devote a paragraph or two describing each. (To learn more detail, you’ll just have to read the articles.) These Lessons Learned are nice to read when they provide some “great truths” (Big Picture) or cite favorable outcomes (Good Things). However, our favorites fall in the category Beware/Wish I Hadn’t/or spring 2012 At the Lighting Design Alliance the most important lesson was that the needs of the users, as described by them, and not just as assumed by the design team, should be the defining factors from the beginning of design. What Didn’t Go Exactly as Planned. This is because some provide real insight into endeavors that were tried in an effort to “push the envelope” of design; we also find it admirable when designers/authors are willing to share what didn’t go quite right. That is frequently where the most can be learned by readers. • About the Authors david l. grumman, P is chairman .e., of grumman/Butkus Associates in evanston, ill. Adam W. Hinge, P is managing direc.e., tor of sustainable energy Partnerships in Tarrytown, n.Y. Both are members of High Performing Buildings magazine’s editorial advisory board. the risk of new technologies, which can often be problematic • The integrated design process (IDP) makes value engineering more difficult • Electric domestic hot water supplemented by solar would have been better than gas-fired 54 HigH Performing Buildings

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012

High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012
Commentary
Contents
Evie Garrett Dennis Campus
Magnify Credit Union South Lakeland Branch
Natural Resources Defense Council
What Makes Buildings High Performing
University of Florida’s William R. Hough Hall
Products
Advertisers Index

High Performing Buildings - Spring 2012