Net Positive - The Practice of BNIM

NET POSITIVE The Practice of BNIM

BNIM IS BUILDING POSITIVE

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BNIM is Building Positive

BNIM is an innovative leader in designing high performance environments. BNIM’s instrumental development of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED), and the Living Building concept, combined with projects, methods and research, shaped the direction of the sustainable movement. Through this involvement, the firm has redefined design excellence to elevate human experience together with aesthetics and building performance. In practice, this multifaceted design excellence has yielded national acclaim, including the AIA National Architecture Firm Award, and consistent design recognition nationally and internationally. BNIM is Building Positive, a notion that describes how the firm leverages its collective capacity for design thinking to solve local and global issues in a way that is focused on building the positive attributes of community and the built environment. Through an integrated process of collaborative discovery, BNIM creates transformative, living design that leads to vital and healthy organizations and communities.

Pacific Center Campus Development – Research + Development Building | LEED Gold Certified

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Omega Center for Sustainable Living | First Building to be both LEED Platinum + Living Building

THE POWER OF ZERO Sustainable design has transformed from an uncommon practice to a standard expectation across building sectors and regions. The industry continues to change as both design strategies and building technologies make resource-aware design the norm, knowing it is both possible and attainable to progress beyond LEED and achieve resource independence.

Research by industry organizations reflects a trend toward the mainstream adoption of Net Zero energy in new buildings.1 This trend toward convention combines with a changing definition of design, noted by the increasing convergence of design excellence with sustainability.2 As a result, Net Zero design has become an accessible reality.

Beyond widely implementing Net Zero strategies, there is increasing movement toward Net Positive buildings that act as natural systems within the ecology of their respective sites by generating more energy than they consume and even treating rain and wastewater.

The true power of zero is in the results achieved by a harmonized, integrated team that is ready to evaluate the facts, make room to explore, and break apart what they know to take risks and find unexpected results. The vision for the power of zero rests with committed clients who understand the benefits of being the leader and finding multiple returns on investment, increased fiscal and individual success that make a calculable difference in the sector that contributes in the largest manner to resource consumption and emissions.

ENERGY STATISTICS

1%

70%

of the annual building stock increase is compromised of new buildings

of U.S. electricity consumption comes from buildings

99%

40%

of buildings are already in place, making Net Zero strategies impactful within renovation and retrofit projects as well

of U.S. carbon emission comes from buildings

1 New Buildings Institute Research: http://newbuildings.org/research/ 2 Lessons from the Leading Edge: http://www.aia.org/practicing/AIAB108444

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Iowa Utilities Board / Office of Consumer Advocate | LEED Platinum

HOW BNIM DESIGNS FOR NET POSITIVE IMPACTS BNIM’s instrumental development of the USGBC, LEED, and the Living Building concept, combined with projects, methods, and research, shaped the direction of the sustainable movement. Through this involvement, the firm has redefined design excellence to elevate human experience together with aesthetics and building performance. In practice, this multifaceted design excellence has yielded national acclaim, including the AIA National Architecture Firm Award, and consistent design recognition.

BNIM designs projects that range from Net Zero (producing more energy or water than they use) to Net Zero Ready (ready to accept renewable energy to become Net Zero) to Net Positive (projects that are regenerative and give back energy and other assets to their site or community). These projects benchmark what were formerly aspirational standards to continue building positive attributes of site, city, and community, while holistically considering performance alongside impact on people and economic prosperity.

The key to Net Zero and Net Positive is design decisions that frame both the big picture and the details. The 2014 BNIM and Integral research report, The Power of Zero: Optimizing Value for Net Zero, noted that understanding and procuring data for occupant behavior is a key component of Net Zero design, given that plug loads have become a primary source of energy use in buildings.

OUR IMPACT

40

ORDER OF OPERATIONS BNIM follows a simple order of operations to keep the cost of high performance buildings in-line with competitive market rate construction in order to achieve Net Zero or be Net Zero Ready:

LEED certified projects 1. Reduce loads and optimize demand first

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Net Zero projects

10

AIA COTE Top Ten projects

2. Remove waste from the system 3. Take advantage of (free) passive strategies 4. Invest in appropriate technology to solve the remaining loads 5 Ensure all strategies provide multiple benefits and are well integrated

Net Zero + Net Positive COMPLETED NET ZERO ENERGY PROJECTS

Sustainability Treehouse at Summit Bechtel Reserve (with Mithun) Mount Hope, WV

Make It Right Homes New Orleans, LA

Greensburg City Hall Greensburg, KS

Kiowa County School Greensburg, KS

Greensburg Business Incubator Greensburg, KS

DPR Construction San Diego Office San Diego, CA

NET ZERO READY

NET POSITIVE ENERGY + WATER

Iowa Utilities Board / Office of Consumer Advocate Des Moines, IA

Omega Center for Sustainable Living Rhinebeck, NY

BTI John Deere Dealership Greensburg, KS

NET POSITIVE ENERGY + WATER (UNBUILT + ON THE BOARDS)

Building Positive: A 4-in-1 Prototype Kansas City, MO

Housing and Community Development Office San Diego, CA

North Kansas City High School Renovation + Expansion Kansas City, MO

Maintenance and Operations Complex, Palomar Community College San Marcos, CA

Makers Quarter - Block D San Diego, CA

Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia Athens, GA

Eden Hall Campus Master Plan, Chatham University Gibsonia, PA

GSA High Performance Building Report (with Autodesk) Washington, D.C.

Petite Rivière Redevelopment Montreal, Quebec, Canada

NET ZERO

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Makers Quarter Block D SAN DIEGO, CA

Makers Quarter ™ is both a place and a collective ethos inspired by the Maker Movement, which provides a creative environment to inspire entrepreneurs and artists to challenge convention and achieve new heights in innovation.

Block D is being designed as a collaborative office hub with retail and restaurant suites on the ground floor. The public spaces are designed to encourage interactions between the building occupants and the surrounding community with the use of open vertical circulation systems, open collaborative balcony spaces, and the entry courtyard with adjacent restaurant venues. The building design has integrated several high performance strategies in promoting its sustainability goals of being the first commercial office building in downtown San Diego to achieve Net Zero Energy and LEED Platinum certification.

Building Gross Sq. Ft.

Building Program

53,325 8,935

Daylight

44,390 90% regularly occupied space receives natural daylight

square feet of retail space

square feet of office space

42%

66%

total energy savings over baseline through passive strategies

cooling energy savings over baseline through passive strategies

• Goal of being the first commercial office building in downtown San Diego to achieve Net Zero Energy and LEED Platinum • Space on roof has been maximized for PV array • Facade utilized two different types of active shading systems to enhance daylighting

Energy Savings

Sustainability Features

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Multiple Projects GREENSBURG, KS

On May 4th, 2007, an EF-5 tornado hit Greensburg, Kansas, resulting in a tragic loss of life, displacing more than 1,500 residents, and destroying 95 percent of the town’s homes and businesses. On December 17, 2007, Greensburg’s City Council became the first city in the country to adopt a resolution that all city projects would be built to LEED Platinum standards and would exceed the baseline code for energy efficiency by 42 percent. Greensburg soon became home to the State of Kansas’ first seven LEED Platinum facilities.

All projects designed by BNIM feature integrated renewable energy technology, water reclamation systems, renewable and recycled construction materials, passive heating, cooling and ventilation, and site water management systems. Buildings, sites and spaces are also designed to boost learning, human health and productivity.

Energy Efficiency Goals

42% + less energy used than code-required minimums for all new buildings

LEED Platinum Projects (BNIM) City of Greensburg Goals • • • •

K-12 School City Hall Business Incubator John Deere BTI

1. Community 2. Family 3. Prosperity 4. Environment 5. Affordability 6. Growth

7. Renewal 8. Water 9. Health 10. Energy 11. Wind 12. Built Environment

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North Kansas City High School Renovation KANSAS CITY, MO

To create an educational experience that supports the next generation of students, the design centers on supporting the pedagogy of the administrators and curriculum, as well as being designed with flexibility in mind to change with the school’s needs over time. Space changes will reflect these attributes through an increase in accessibility, community, and gathering space. The school will also receive large-scale infrastructural updates in an effort to create equitable campus facilities, spaces and resources, as compared to similar-scale regional and district high schools.

The district and design team has set goals of LEED Platinum and Net Zero Energy + Water.

The design seeks to employ natural daylight in regularly occupied spaces and maximize solar harvesting via an expansive rooftop PV array system. The team and the District identified additional goals that will strengthen the surrounding community by maintaining Northtown’s open campus identity and connecting to the community through Friday night football games and other events.

Building Gross Sq. Ft.

Strategies to Achieve Net Zero

232,000

To achieve Northtown’s aspirational goals of LEED Platinum and Net Zero Energy, the design team plans to use the following strategies: tuned natural daylight in regularly occupied spaces to reduce requirement of mechanical lighting; maximization of solar harvesting via rooftop PV array system; and water harvesting of site and roof stormwater for use.

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Maintenance and Operations Complex PALOMAR COLLEGE | SAN DIEGO, CA The Palomar College Operations and Maintenance Complex will serve buildings and grounds at Palomar College and other satellite campuses. The project consists of a large shop building and small office building that are linked through a series of outdoor paths and spaces on an irregularly shaped site.

While campus operations facilities are often relegated to secondary locations, the project is located on what was an existing surface lot at a highly visible campus gateway. The design team has used site topography and the strategic placement of the building to screen vehicular uses and to create a series of memorable indoor and outdoor spaces that are visible from pedestrian and vehicular entries to the campus.

Building Sq. Ft.

Sustainability Features

28,000

• 70% of the building is designed utilizing passive strategies • Targeting Net Zero Energy • Using passive design strategies allowed for less mechanical infrastructure and allocating more of the budget toward innovations with the facade

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA | ATHENS, GA The Odum School of Ecology is building a new home that will transform education and research by setting a new benchmark as the world’s most sustainable academic lab building.

The design’s innovative strategies — green roofs, living walls, water treatment system, photovoltaic cells, natural ventilation, daylight, double skin facades and a collaboration corridor — reinforce the spirit of founder Eugene Odum’s approach to ecosystem ecology by creating a living laboratory that will foster regenerative relationships between the student, researchers, visitors and the natural systems at work in the building and site.

Building Sq. Ft.

Renewable Energy

Waste

100%

150,000 0% Research & Education Building

generated on site

net zero waste generation

Building & Storm Water

Water for Use

Building Features

100%

100%

managed on site

captured on site

• • • •

Designed to achieve Living Building certification No toxic materials used in construction Living walls and green roofs Designed to improve learning and human health

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Sustainability Treehouse at Summit Bechtel GLEN JEAN, WV

BNIM, as part of a team of nationally known designers and specialty consulting firms, worked with the Boy Scouts of America to design and construct the Summit Bechtel Reserve in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia. BNIM was involved in the envisioning of the program and served as Design and Production Architect for the Sustainability Treehouse, an interactive educational facility that integrates sustainable design and Scout values.

The vertical structure of the Treehouse mimics the layers of a forest’s ecosystem and provides unobstructed views at each level. In reverence to the surrounding landscape, the net zero energy and net zero water Treehouse utilizes photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and a water collection and filtration system to minimize its impact on the Reserve.

Building Sq. Ft.

Water Management

Daylight / Views

3,357

100%

100%

100%

reduction of regulated potable water

precipitation managed onsite

spaces that are naturally daylit and have views to the outdoors

Predicted EUI

Net Energy Use

Electricity Usage

Renewable Technology

15

-1

85%

• Photovoltaics

kBTUs / sf / yr

kBTUs / sf / yr (with renewable energy contribution)

percent reduction from national median EUI for building type

• Vertical Axis Wind Turbines • Future Central Plant Geothermal Collector

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NET ZERO READY

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Pacific Center Campus Development Research + Development Building SAN DIEGO, CA

The Research and Development (R+D) Building is designed around one notion: human nature. This model workplace and development lab represents transformational replication, which leapfrogs dated office buildings to provide an innovative environment to attract and retain the best talent. Embracing its San Diego location, the building connects people with nature to increase workplace wellbeing.

The high-performance building envelope integrates the structure and the exterior envelope to minimize energy usage. Inside, the materials palette and color story are driven by the nature program using warm, vibrant colors for dynamic social spaces and cool, muted colors for focus areas.

Building Sq. Ft.

Storm Water

357,000 100% managed on site

Energy Efficiency

Building Materials

32%

76%

building materials with recycled content (by cost)

construction waste diverted from local landfills

Natural Daylight

Potable Water

25%

139

84.2% 36%

better than Title 24 (predicted regional energy reduction per Energy Star Target Finder)

kBtu/sf/year (predicted EUI, excluding on site renewable contributions)

regularly occupied spaces that receive nautral daylight

regulated potable water reduction from baseline

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JEFFERSON CITY, MO The State of Missouri challenged BNIM to design and construct an exemplary office building for the Department of Natural Resources, one that would set new benchmarks for sustainable design without increasing their base budget. Specific goals included energyefficiency, a healthy workplace environment and stewardship of natural resources. The design team implemented a highly integrated design process to achieve this goal. The building’s form, orientation, envelope design and systems (mechanical, electrical, lighting) were integrated to maximize energy performance and optimize daylight and thermal comfort within the workplace.

The building became the first state office building in the country to receive a LEED Platinum rating, and now serves as a benchmark for future state government buildings.

Building Sq. Ft.

Human Productivity

Water Reclamation

120,000 50,000 70%

9%

water used from reclaimed sources

reduction in absenteeism

Relevant Features

Cost

Electricity Usage

• Lowest operating cost for a state building in Missouri • Lowest construction cost per sq. ft. of any other State office building • LEED Platinum at no premium on cost

$154.78 56%

gallon reclaimed water storage capacity

per square foot

more efficient than ASHRAE 90.1-1999 baseline

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Iowa Utilities Board / Office of Consumer Advocate DES MOINES, IA

BNIM designed the energy efficient office building to house the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and the Office of the Consumer Advocate (OCA). An infill development on the State of Iowa Capitol Complex in Downtown Des Moines, the project was developed on a challenging, awkwardly proportioned landfill site and serves to create a gateway to the complex at its southeast corner. It is a model energy efficient office building demonstrating proven, costeffective energy efficiency measures for new construction.

The project was designed to integrate replicable sustainable strategies, serving as a demonstration project for other government facilities at the state and local level. What makes this application particularly significant is the multitude of strategies integrated together to truly achieve a building of exemplary energy performance.

Building Sq. Ft.

Water Management

44,640 46%

Daylight / Views

Cost

95%

$226

below code requirements

interior spaces that are naturally daylight

per square foot

Generation Capacity (Elec.)

Net Energy Use

Electricity Usage

Renewable Technology

21.2

16.7

81%

• Photovoltaics

kBTUs / sf / yr

kBTUs / sf / yr (with PV panel contribution)

more efficient than typical office building

• Wind Turbine • Geothermal Well Field • Passive Heating & Cooling

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San Diego County Housing & Community Development Office The renovated Housing and Community Development (HCD) building will be a complete transformation. It will serve as a compelling amenity and powerful tool to increase productivity and overall employee wellness, support recruiting and retaining top talent, and be a showcase to technology.

HCD’s new interior design seeks to eliminate programmatic inefficiencies that have previously created a thermally uncomfortable and disorienting way-finding experience.

The design approach resolves the building’s east/west orientation and capitalizes on views towards the north of site. By rethinking and reducing the surrounding wall height of individual workstations, daylight will be allowed to enter the workspace of every employee.

Building Sq. Ft.

Daylight + Views

Net Zero Ready

29,408 99.6% 90% regularly occupied spaces to receive daylight

regularly occupied spaces to have views to outside

1st HCD is the first Net Zero renovation by San Diego County

Notable Features

Energy Consumption

• Minimum of LEED Gold with goal of LEED Platinum • All occupants will have access to operable windows • Passive sustainable strategies include natural ventilation

40%

15%

reduction in energy consumption

more efficient than Title 24

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School of Nursing and Student Community Center UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH SCIENCE CENTER | HOUSTON, TX

The University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston is one of Houston’s premier teaching institutions for health-related professions. As such, it recognized its responsibility to take the lead in the creation of an environment that speaks to living health-centered lives.

Goals of increased air quality, increased natural daylighting, reduction of polluting emissions and run-off, and increased user satisfaction and productivity were achieved using the LEED rating system as a platform.

The School of Nursing utilized a holistic design approach that unites façade design, building systems, resource conservation and materials reclamation in creation of a high-performing, integrated educational and academic workplace facility.

Building Sq. Ft.

Building Program

Rainwater + Potable Water

195,000

• Student lounge • 200-seat auditorium • 20,000 SF of state-of-theart classrooms • Research laboratory

826,140 95% gallons of rainwater captured by rainwater storage tanks

potable water demand met by harvesting rainwater

Construction Waste

Energy Use

Purchased Utilities

Climate Responsive Features

75%

$56,142 60%

construction waste that was recycled or salvaged

annual energy savings

cost savings in purchased utilities

• Green roofs • Limited paving • First floor is built above 500-year flood line • Indigenous, lowmaintenance plants

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Omega Center for Sustainable Living | First LEED Platinum + Living Building Certified

NET POSITIVE

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Building Positive: A 4-in-1 Prototype KANSAS CITY, MO

The adaptive reuse of a former warehouse into a workplace embodies a humanpurposed, integrated design philosophy that insists a building contribute to the wellbeing of people while achieving the highest levels of performance at market rate project costs and adhering to four green building standards: Living Building Challenge, LEED, WELL Building, and Sustainable Sites. Because of these goals, Building Positive came to be known as a four-in-one workplace prototype that incorporates the highest aspirations for building, community, and people.

Building Positive was designed to generate its own electricity, meet its water demands through rainwater harvesting, and treat all wastewater onsite through a series of wastewater treatment cells.

Waste

Renewable Energy

Building Goals

0%

100%

Net Zero waste generation

generated on site

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Building & Storm Water

100%

100%

managed on site

captured on site

Natural ventilation Access to daylight and views from all occupied spaces Flexible work environment and open office plan A living machine Renewable energy Reuse of captured stormwater in irrigation and other uses Reduced energy use Reduced water use 0% runoff Recycled and reused materials Local and regional materials 0% use of hazardous materials Community spaces Connection to the neighborhood Access to public transportation

• Educational and inspirational spaces to benefit the community

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RHINEBECK , NY In 2006, the Omega Institute commissioned BNIM to design a new highly sustainable wastewater filtration facility with a strong educational component focused on water. The project replaces the current wastewater disposal system for 119 buildings on a 195-acre campus in Rhinebeck, New York by using biological methods of treatment via an Eco MachineTM. As part of a larger effort to educate visitors, staff and the local community on local, regional and global water issues, the project showcases this ecological system in a building that houses the primary treatment cells and a classroom/laboratory. The building received a LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council and is one of the first buildings to receive certification as a Living Building.

Building Sq. Ft.

Water Reclamation Capacity

6,250

38,000 40

1,800

gallons per day (GPD)

gallons: average daily demand

gallon cistern stores enough water for 45 days

Generation Capacity (Electricity)

Electricity Demand

Electricity Usage

2,830

134.2

132.77

-1.43

sq. ft of photovoltaic panels, 211 panels in 3 arrays

Kw/day (48.53 Kw/hour max output)

Kw/day (average)

Kw/day (average) – the building is designed to generate more electricity than it uses

Rainwater Use for Toilet Flushing

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BNIM leverages its collective capacity for design thinking to solve local and global issues in a way that is focused on building the positive attributes of community and the built environment. As a multidisciplinary firm that is building positive, our disciplines collaborate significantly on meaningful work that is carefully conceived for multiple returns and measurable results.

BNIM is Building Positive.

Omega Center for Sustainable Living | First Building to be both LEED Platinum + Living Building

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