Net Zero Buildings - November 2018 by Endeavor Business Media

NET ZERO BUILDINGS • Highlighting the Path Toward Net Zero Building Design 1811NZBCVR04.indd 1

ENVELOPE: BUILDING TESTING LAB POWER: GROWING THE MICROGRID DAYLIGHTING: A PIONEER PROFILED

NET ZERO BUILDINGS 7, Number 5  Volume Premier Issue: Jan. 2013

November 2018

18 24 30

Net zero, ultimately, represents a numerical value derived from hard data, accrued via research, modeling and monitoring. This issue looks specifically at how data is transforming the way buildings are being built. Start with our analysis of the New Buildings Institute’s most recent HVAC report. Page 12 

the analytics of architecture

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NewBrick delivers the classic beauty of traditional clay brick, with enormous advantages in weight, ease of use, environmental impact, system cost, and energy efficiency.

To learn more about why NewBrick is the choice of forward-thinking architects, builders, contractors, developers, and homeowners, visit newbrick.com or call 1-833-NEWBRIK.

CIRCLE 23

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GLASS WORTHY OF A

LANDMARK Salesforce Tower

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA with SunGuard® AG 50

Photo © Tim Griffith

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After an initial foray delivered less-than-favorable results, a switch to a net-zero scheme may prove a blueprint for 20 more BPA replacement facilities.

project zero

OBSERVATIONS

Bonneville Power Administration Building

06 Toward Zero

Vancouver, Wash.

If you are prepared to think differently about renewables, fear not, help is available for those not well versed in the ways of PV.

With a mandate to upgrade its fleet of operational facilities, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) needed a facility that not only could operate 24/7, but could serve as a template for future projects. At the very least, the project certainly has proved a great reason for the design firm to push net zero capabilities as a differentiator.

By Jim Crockett ON THE COVER Net zero, ultimately, represents a numerical value derived from hard data, accrued via research, modeling and monitoring. NZB looks specifically at how data is transforming the way buildings are being designed and built.

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By Jim Crockett

44 End Point

06 ď ˇ

Occupant comfort must be an integral component of the design process. By John Mesenbrink

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H VAC

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A recent NBI report on radiant heating and cooling in commercial buildings gives a solid endorsement for the technology as a viable HVAC solution. By John Mesenbrink

Hydronics Software Piping Solutions u Thermal Mass u DOAS u u

EN V ELO PE

P OW ER

DAY L I G H T I N G

LIGHTING

WAT ER

Efficiency Testing

Growing Microgrids

Software Solutions

Euro Advantage

Idea Exchange

Utilized more, building test labs are paving the way toward optimized envelope efficiency by exploring how integrated system solutions perform on a smaller scale to extrapolate that performance to a full-scale implementation in real world application.

By bringing an “asa-service” model to microgrids, capitalladen developers and technology companies are able to sell reliability and resilience benefits to corporate buyers or individual entities, without the need for the latter to incur the upfront investment.

Laureate of one of Velux’s coveted 2018 Daylight Awards for Research, Greg Ward not only created the Radiance simulation tool some 30 years ago, but he continues to support its development and application by actively engaging its varied users.

European offices enjoy an inherent advantage to U.S. counterparts: portable lighting. Fixed lighting requires labor to shift luminaires to suit changing spaces; portable lighting can be moved readily. It is also closer to surfaces being illuminated, requiring less energy.

Thought leaders from across the globe convened in Germany for the inaugural BIGGEXCHANGE event, which delved into sustainable cities and building operations, as well as the future of construction, including automation’s role in streamlining the process.

Green Roofs Wood Cladding u IMPs u Singapore’s 2¢

BIPV Panels Portable Power u Wind Update u Islanding

u u

Task Lighting LED Luminaires u Façade Illumination u Beam Control

Translucent Panels Metric Accuracy u Radiance in Review

Alan Weis

www.nzbmagazine.com

Radiant Efficiency

By Chuck Ross

By Barbara-Horwitz Bennett

By Kevin Willmorth

Infrastructure Improvements u Hot Water Efficiency u Heat Recovery By John Mesenbrink

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NOVEMBER 2018

Re-Introducing…

THE ANNUAL NZB AWARDS

VOL. 7, NO. 5

NET ZERO BUILDINGS

Premier Issue: Jan. 2013

Gary Redmond

Managing Partner Director Publishing Operations gredmond@cbmedia.us.com

NET ZERO BUILDINGS Premier Issue: Jan. 2013

Tim Shea

Managing Partner Director Business Development tshea@cbmedia.us.com

Dave Pape

Jim Crockett

Vice President Director, Art & Production dpape @cbmedia.us.com

Editorial Director jcrockett@cbmedia.us.com

NET ZERO BUILDINGS

Premier Issue: Jan. 2013

NET ZERO BUILDINGS

EDITORIAL

Premier Issue: Jan. 2013

E NVE LO PE

DAYL IGHT IN G

POW ER

Alan Weis

Barbara Horwitz-Bennett Contributing Writer

Chuck Ross

Contributing Writer

L IGHT ING

WAT E R

HVAC

Contributing Writer

Kevin Willmorth

John Mesenbrink

Contributing Writer

John Mesenbrink

Contributing Editor

Megan Mazzocco

Senior Editor mmazzocco@cbmedia.us.com

One of the major criteria that differentiates net zero projects vs. say, a LEED-certified project, is that net zero certification typically requires verification of performance for at least a year’s worth of operation. In that spirit, for NZB’s inaugural awards program later this year, we’d like to highlight outstanding examples of product and technology in application, whether included as part of an efficient system or for more singular performance. In concert with our established “pillars,” we’ll be looking at technology applications within the categories of the building envelope, daylighting, lighting, HVAC, water/plumbing, and on-site power/renewables. These system-level entries do not necessarily have to be associated with a net zero project, but should be associated with a high-performance design.

ART + PRODUCTION Dave Pape

Art Director dpape@cbmedia.us.com

Lauren Lenkowski

Christine Ha

Associate Art Director llenkowski@cbmedia.us.com

Graphic Designer cha@cbmedia.us.com

On the net zero level, we will also recognize a net zero project of the year, which may be a project already certified, or one under consideration. And to recognize the effort and work that goes into creating a net zero ADVERTISING SALES

project we will also be issuing citations for:   

BEST INTEGRATED PROCESS BEST ENERGY MODELING EFFORT BEST CONTINUOUS COMMISSIONING EFFORT

On a product level, we’d also like to recognize R+D and efforts to create products that will help further the net zero movement, in the following categories: MOST PROMISING NEW TECHNOLOGY  BEST HYBRID PRODUCT PARTNERSHIP—Where two or more manufacturers have worked together to develop a single product that will better serve the design community  MOST PROMISING ELECTRONIC DESIGN TOOLS 

Details and deadline information will be available soon. Questions should be directed to Jim Crockett: jcrockett@cbmedia.us.com

Gary Redmond

847 359 6493 gredmond @cbmedia.us.com

Bob Fox

917 273 8062 bfox@cbmedia.us.com bfox @cbmedia.us.com

David Haggett

847 934 9123 dhagg dha ggett gg ett@cbmedia.us.com ett @cbmedia.us.com

Tim Shea

Michael Boyle

847 359 6493 tshea@cbmedia.us.com tshea @cbmedia.us.com

847 359 6493 mboy mbo yle le@cbmedia.us.com @cbmedia.us.com

Jim Führer

Jim Oestmann

503 227 1381 jfuhrer fuhrer@cbmedia.us.com @cbmedia.us.com

847 924 5497 joestmann@cbmedia.us.com

Ted Rzempoluch

609 361 1733 trzemp trzem poluch@cbmedia.us.com

Net Zero Buildings (NZB), Vol. 7, No. 5. Published five times per year by Construction Business Media. Publication Office: Construction Business Media, 579 First Bank Drive, Suite 220, Palatine, IL 60067; 847 359 6493; www.nzbmagazine.com. (Copyright © 2018 by Construction Business Media) A Publication of Construction Business Media

www.nzbmagazine.com

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| TOWARD ZERØ |

JIM CROCKETT

Don’t Get Squirrely About Golden Days or Rays In getting one’s feet wet in the wide world of net zero, an often-intimidating factor is figuring out renewables. But there’s good news for those not so well versed in the ways of PV: Help is available if you’re prepared to think differently.

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I recently became a “great” uncle twice over... In my decrepitude and curmudgeonly ways, I had forgotten the joy babies and young children can bring. In fact, the inspiration for this column was a stop-and-look-atthe-leaves—moment. My niece, who became an instant mom upon her recent marriage, celebrated the “golden” birthday of her new son, who turned five on the 5th, and invited me over. The problem was I was massively behind at work, and I didn’t know if I could swing it. Amid my fretting, in driving into the office, I glanced along the highway and noticed many of the trees had made the transformation to a golden hue. It was a calming and reassuring moment, and not surprising, as fall, particularly October, has always been my favorite time

of year; but in letting worry get the better of me, I failed to appreciate this window, including the magical time when kids are so innocent and spirit rejuvenating. Of all things that helped me realize this, was a squirrel trapped in our office. At first, it was amusing to hear the little guy scrambling around in the plenum. Then you could hear— and feel—its anxiety. Before that “leaves” respite, I felt just like the squirrel with no seeming way out. I bring this up because for those just dipping their toe into the waters of net-zero buildings—such launches can be overwhelming given the complexity, and out-of-the-box thinking and doing required. But like that squirrel, help is often available. In Chuck Ross’ Power section, he delves into an area I think most would-be net zero disciples begin to sink— fear of incorporating

solar power. The good news, in some cases, is that you don’t have to. Chuck reports there’s a growing movement among many thirdparty tech entities to take on renewable design, management and even financing. Like the squirrel in our office, sometimes you just have to trust in the opportunity before you follow the peanuts, and jump out the opened window. Granted, it’s easier said than done, but I think that’s the lesson: in this ever-complex world, we have to learn to ask for help so we can regain our sanity and enjoy the brief moments in life that deliver happiness, or a sense of contentment. In fact, store that feeling as we take a short hiatus until March, but, like squirrels, in scrambling to hoard nuts for winter, let’s not get too crazed.

At the same time, there’s a second lesson to contemplate this off-season—one I hope our landlord considers—build a better envelope! Start by checking out our story on Berkeley National Lab’s FLEXLAB. That said, if you hear something scrambling around above you, keep in mind chaos, like squirrels, will find its way in when it wants to. I guess the biggest issue to consider this winter is recognizing such inevitabilities, and having a plan for dealing with such emergencies— but that’s a story for another time.

84 GW

1 GW Community PV Growth 2018

2030 Source: GTM Research

DATA POINT: Is solar at a dead end? Scott Cramer, president of the Go Solar Group, thinks it is, as it is; It also means it’s an opportunity for a renewables renaissance. Two areas he thinks have tremendous upside: community infrastructure (car charging); and solar gardens/community solar. GTM Research projects the latter could grow from about 1 GW today to 84 GW by 2030.

Jim Crockett, Editorial Director

jcrockett@cbmedia.us.com

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Bonneville Power Ross Admin. Building Vancouver, Wash. Market: Office/Utility Size: A seven-acre site hosting a 15,700-sq.ft. office building and a 22,400-sq.-ft maintenance building for storage of vehicles and equipment. Components: Offices, training rooms, workshops, tool and vehicle storage, and a storage yard for power poles. Team: Design: Soderstrom Architects Structural/civil engineers: KPFF Consulting MEP, Lighting Design: Interface Engineering Energy Modeling: Guttman & Blaevoet Consulting Engineers PV System Engineer: Paradigm Engineering Landscape Architect: SimpL Landscape Architects GC: Skanska One of four regional federal power marketing agencies within the U.S. Dept. of Energy, the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) is a federal agency created by Congress in 1937 to market electric power from the Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam, and to construct facilities necessary to transmit that power. Congress has since designated BPA to be the marketing agent for power from all of the federally owned hydroelectric projects in the Pacific Northwest. Text: Jim Crockett Photos: Stephen Cridland

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| PROJECT ZERØ |

BONNEVILLE POWER WITH A MANDATE TO UPGRADE ITS FLEET OF OPERATIONAL FACILITIES, BPA NEEDED A FACILITY THAT NOT ONLY COULD OPERATE 24/7, BUT COULD SERVE AS A TEMPLATE FOR FUTURE PROJECTS.

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Getting a Read on Replicable NZB After an initial foray delivered less-thanfavorable results, a switch to a net-zero scheme may prove a blueprint for 20 more BPA replacement facilities. A Portland-area base for the Bonneville Power Administration’s (BPA) transmission line and substation maintenance crews, substation operators, control technicians, and support engineers,

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

always looking for ways to address weaknesses in the system.” Energy, since LEED certification, preferably Gold, was also a goal, did play a major role in design. In fact, each building has a modeled energy use index (EUI) of 30, although Shea believes they may hit closer to 20. The 300kW PV array, however, was sized to make the project net zero now on an annual basis.

How it All Started

VANCOUVER, WA.

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the Ross facility is designed to the highest seismic resistance criteria for complete functionality after an earthquake. In fact, according to Mike Shea, a principal with Portland-based Soderstrom Architects, the ability to be a true 24/7/365-operation, in order for the entity to be able to launch emergency repairs on power lines and substations, was the very driver that made net zero a reality. “It’s no secret the Pacific Northwest is due for an earthquake in the not-so-distant future,” says the firm principal. “So what BPA really wanted was a mission-critical facility with on-site power capability, for if there is an earthquake, the linemen will be ready,” says Shea, adding BPA is an organization run for, and by engineers, “so they’re

Soderstrom, actually, was a previous BPA client, having developed a master plan for the agency to upgrade and replace its fleet of buildings in the Oregon/Washington area. The Ross facility represented the second replacement building. Soderstrom was not involved in the first project, but after constructing that initial structure, BPA had a better idea of what it wanted, and what it, definitely, did not want, as that first foray did not produce the replicable formula it sought. But as far as the program and architectural goal, another driver was culture and uniting said engineers with the work crews, who Shea said had always been separated. “They really wanted to tear down that wall, so to speak. So now the linemen and engineers are all in one building, and they all meet in the morning before heading off.”

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TIMELINE  June 2011: MHQ system-wide master plan completed  June 2015: Project start.  July 2015: Design basis completed  September 2015: Design concept  October 2015: Design development  January 2016: Construction documents  July 2016: Construction begins  November 2017: Substantial completion  January 2018: Occupancy. Key Stats: Cost: $13,000,000 Admin. Building: 15,678 sq. ft.; Maintenance Building: 22,442 sq. ft. EUI per LEED modeling protocol: 35 kBTU/sq. ft./year; Maintenance Building: 39 kBTU/sq.ft./ year. Energy modeling and research played important roles in pre-planning the project, although Shea sees lots of areas where the process can be improved, particularly with the former. Modeling, in this case, was driven by the customer’s desire to achieve LEED Gold. “We had a good sense of what we needed, but the modeling effort didn’t go as deep as we would have liked in being able to drill down at system level, to do different analysis with PV, for example.” One pre-planning aspect that was very much in focus was BPA’s commitment to analysis of building controls. The organization has a long history with control systems, and not always a positive one, so BPA put heavy emphasis on ensuring that would not be the case here.

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IN THE ZONE Thermally separate zones were a big part of the overall HVAC strategy, especially as the bays are unoccupied for much of the day.

ENVELOPE

In contemplating both the look and constitution of the envelope, it was a matter of marrying practical functionality with sustainability on a tight budget. Soderstrom has delivered many lowenergy buildings in its portfolio, so that wasn’t an issue. In fact, they first experimented with solar power back in the ‘80s, so dealing with an off-grid power system was not unfamiliar—nor was delivering a net zero project, as the firm did so with the Village for Sustainable Living student housing project at the Oregon Institute of Technology. The challenge here, says Shea, was to be contemporary, but cost effective. “What we ended up discussing, as far back as that master plan, was a pre-engineered, panelized metal building system whose

form would be simple and even repeatable, as BPA would be embarking on an aggressive, as many as two-a-year construction program.” The building is clad with MBCI insulated metal panels delivering R30. Wall performance was further augmented with another R30 layer inside the wall cavity—actually good old-fashioned BATS insulation, but Knauf’s EcoBatt, for healthier IAQ and environmental impact. Blower door tests and infrared cameras were used to ensure tight and fully insulated construction. Even the doors of the vehicle storage building (Schweiss BiFold) are top performers, delivering R30 vs. the more typical R12 or R18.

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| PROJECT ZERO |

HVAC

The office building uses radiant slab heating and cooling with DOAS ventilation and heat recovery via an ERV. The maintenance building uses infrared radiant heating in the vehicle storage/ work bays and HVLS fans for cooling. The HVAC and lighting systems are also seismically tested and certified to be immediately operable after a major quake. The combination of radiant, augmented with DOAS ventilation, works especially well in the mild Pacific Northwest climate. In fact, Shea says, it can operate in economizer mode for most of the year. The firm had considered a number of other options including natural ventilation, but ultimately, opted for what was most economical

for this particular facility and client. “We looked at geothermal, ground source heat pumps and VRF,” says Shea. In fact, the latter tech, according to the architect, actually would have been a little less expensive than their hybrid system. The client, however, had reservations about the need to eventually replace the number of compressors in each unit in about 30 years. Ground source heat pumps proved entirely too expensive. However, of note, adds Shea, is that geothermal, if done on a more campus-wide basis, would have been much more affordable. In fact, the firm had great success with such tech at OIT, although they were blessed there with a natural geothermal well.

Since the vehicle storage facility would include the large operable doors, Shea said they did consider natural ventilation. In fact, the shape of the buildings themselves reflects that fact, as the area is blessed with significant prevailing winds off the Columbia River; the idea was to create a negative pressure within one of the structures by the shape and orientation of the buildings, to draw air in, and through, the buildings. Ultimately, research revealed winds were not prevalent enough. Security also was a concern. The idea, however, was worth exploring, as Shea says it had been successfully implemented on the net zero Hood River Middle School in the region.

Instead, Soderstrom focused on creating thermally separate zones, especially as the vehicle facilities are unoccupied for much of the day while crews are out on repairs and maintenance. Also, the ERV system delivers much of the benefits they would have gotten from natural ventilation.

DAYLIGHTING + LIGHTING

A concerted effort was made to bring daylight into the space, particularly via clerestory windows due to the high-bay nature of the building. “We wanted to make use of it. Anecdotally, we know it helps productivity, and it also helps lower energy consumption.” In fact, Shea is pleased at just how well the daylighting effort is going. “There’s lots of daylight all the time. In fact, there’s no real need to even run the lights, except for maybe December.”

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Windows feature a “bird friendly” grid etched into the glass to prevent birds from colliding with the glass surfaces. Lighting is all LED. There are not a lot of daylighting sensors, as Shea says they preferred occupancy sensors, due to the more migratory nature of the staff. Interiors are bright and highly reflective to help bounce natural light. As far as color, Soderstrom did employ very visible yellow Ductsox throughout the space. Not only is it a more cost-effective product, especially to add a splash of color, but Shea says it also helps make the space quieter, an important issue, as acoustics in high-bay spaces, and metal buildings, as whole, can be an issue.

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COMMISSIONING INSIGHTS BPA put a high priority on the design and commissioning of control systems in the complex. Such foresight, however, adds Shea, takes an enlightened—or experienced—client to understand the value of pre-planning and integration and continuous commissioning.

LINE OF CLARK PUD EASEMENT

40' - 55' POLES

2400 SF EXPANSION ZONE 83'-2 1/2"

81'-7 1/2"

10 FT CLEARANCE

4500 SF EXPANSION ZONE

TRASH ENCLOSURE

70' - 75' POLES

POLE STORAGE

STORAGE

WIRE DRUMS

TRANSFORMER

64 CARS

CANOPY OVER PATIO

MAINTENANCE BUILDING

FLAGPOLE

ADMINISTRATION BUILDING

ENTRY CANOPY WALL SIGN

80' - 85' POLES HAZMAT CONEX JERSEY BARRIERS @ 25' O.C.

STORAGE

VRF

LINE OF CLARK PUD EASEMENT

BIOSWALE

NEW FENCE

90' - 100' POLES

NEW MOTORIZED SLIDING GATE

GRAVEL BINS

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WATER

Low-flow plumbing fixtures were used throughout, but the outside water management strategy was more notable. Prior to the building’s construction, in compliance with more aggressive Washington State laws and impact fees, a significant stormwater retention system was excavated. “It’s extensive, but it’s also

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expensive, as this is a seven-acre site,” says Shea. “But I sure was glad we had it, as when we were constructing the buildings, it was one of rainiest winters we’ve experienced in a while.”

The parking lots contain some areas for drainage, but the architects opted out of more permeable solutions as there was some concern about the quality of the soil, as the area, prior to the project, was kind of a dumping area. The area was remediated, but the firm just didn’t want to chance anything.

BPA PUT HEAVY EMPHASIS ON ENSURING THAT CONTROL SYSTEMS WERE DONE CORRECTLY, AGGRESSIVELY INVOLVING CONTRACTORS AND THE CONTROLS MANUFACTURERS IN THE PROCESS.

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POWER

Looking back, and ahead, Shea is hopeful they’ll be working again with BPA on future replacement facilities, as the client was pleased with their work on the project. “I think what we’ve done here can be a template,” says Shea. The firm certainly is compiling lessons learned. For example, the 400plus module, 300kW PV array (Solar World) more than adequately met the site’s power needs. In fact, Shea said they could have easily added more panels if they wished to become a net positive site. While not necessary here, he says it could be done elsewhere, even as a catalyst and generator for surrounding areas that might wish to help create a larger microgrid where greater resilience is desired.

KALWALL

At the same time, Shea says there are things that need to be worked out. For example, no battery storage was incorporated at this time. It’s nothing to do with the technology itself, he says, but rather issues about system integration. “Who knows, maybe by the time of construction for the fourth or fifth building, it may be possible. But right now, it’s just too much of a risk for a facility with such a mission-critical role.”

While there was room on the roof for additional PV, they opted out of doing so in their effort to keep things simple and costs down. That said, the choice to use a radiant HVAC system did play a big role in increasing flexibility, as they were able to avoid the need to store HVAC equipment on the roof—the chiller for radiant cooling is on the ground level, also making it easier to maintain.

 WIND WOES Given all the operable doors, incorporation of a natural ventilation scheme was in play, but prevailing area winds did not cooperate.

SIDEBAR

high performance translucent building systems

Looking Ahead Perhaps the best news of the day is that Soderstrom will be able to help BPA log and act on such lessons learned, as in a separate contract, the organization has commissioned the firm to conduct a post-occupancy evaluation. It begs the question asked here previously in the pages of the magazine, about the notion of out-of-thebox design-build-maintain-operate contracts as the logical route of contracts of the future. Shea says the idea could appeal to larger clients, especially those dealing with a campus, or have expanding building programs—and possibly even real estate holding companies with large portfolios. That said, for smaller projects, it’s not likely to fly. He, however, is intrigued by the notion, and at the very least, says it provides a starting point for designers, contractors and owners to begin dialogue for more in-depth, long-term planning and operations—discussions that might not happen without such consideration. He certainly hopes the good will they’ve earned on the project, including their role in creating a master plan, puts them at the top for consideration of the rest of BPA’s replacement program, which could involve 20 other projects. At the very least, it certainly has proved a great reason for the firm to push net zero capabilities as a differentiator.

Deakin University Centre for Advanced Design + Engineering Waurn Ponds, Australia | Gray Puksand Architects

photos: Mark Duffus ®

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Circle 25

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JOHN MESENBRINK

| NZB: HVAC |

Because of the drive for optimized energy efficiency, design teams need to look at alternative HVAC methods in order to meet energy goals. A recent NBI report on radiant heating and cooling in commercial buildings gives a solid endorsement for radiant systems as a viable HVAC solution. Daily design team discussions through an integrated approach regarding new construction and retrofits are gaining traction to determine what is best for a building’s overall health and sustainability, especially when it relates to HVAC.

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“There are building owners that really look at different ways that they can optimize the energy usage within a building. It has been proven in countess case studies that show that radiant heating and cooling can be used as part of a complete HVAC system design strategy to meet the net zero goals for which these building owners are looking,” says Devin Abellon, P.E., business development manger—engineering services, Uponor, a manufacturer of the tubing commonly used in such systems.

RADIATING

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HVAC

EFFICIENCY

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For example, recent studies have shown favorably for radiant systems as a primary method for heating and cooling. In fact, the New Buildings Institute (NBI) recently worked with the Center for the Built Environment at UC Berkeley to study the Energy Performance of Commercial Buildings with Radiant Cooling and Heatingâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; part of the California

Energy Commission (CEC) EPIC project, Optimizing Radiant Systems for Energy Efficiency and Comfort. The report describes the general building characteristics including type, size, location and climate zone of 23 buildings in North America with radiant distribution systems for both heating and cooling the predominant area of the building. The study found that almost all of the 23 buildings 14 ď ľ

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HVAC

ROLL IT OUT A custom-designed, prefabricated, pre-pressurized network of Uponor crosslinked polyethylene (PEX-a) tubing, the Radiant Rollout Mat is the ideal solution for faster, more consistent installations for large commercial radiant heating and cooling applications—saving up to 85% in installation time. The mat can install about eight times faster than conventional radiant tubing installation methods, potentially shaving weeks off an installation schedule, and save on back strain. Uponor www.uponor.com CIRCLE 307

IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT RADIANT HEATING AND COOLING CAN BE USED AS PAST OF A COMPLETE HVAC SYSTEM DESIGN STRATEGY TO MEET A BUILDING’S NET ZERO GOALS.  13

outperformed peer buildings and national benchmarks, suggesting that radiant systems are part of the integrated approach that can lead to low energy consumption in commercial buildings. According the report, radiant systems are often thought to lead to lower energy use compared to all-air systems. Building characteristics and the whole building actual energy use data from building owner, operators and design firms were collected to help test this claim. The data analysis methodology used standard energy performance metrics and datasets from which to a) represent the research dataset energy performance, and b) compare it to national benchmarks and calculate energy use differences.

By all comparison metrics, the 23 radiant buildings in the full research study outperformed benchmark values. Most buildings exceeded EnergyStar certification performance requirements, with two thirds receiving an EnergyStar score of 90 or above, signifying that these buildings outperform 90% of comparable buildings. The median Energy Use Index (EUI) of the research dataset is 38 kBTU/sq. ft., meaning that half the studied buildings were in the top 25% of these peer groups. “A key takeaway is that radiant systems are a great choice for high-performance buildings, leading to significantly lower energy use and equal or better occupant comfort compared to buildings with conventional HVAC systems—VAV, generally,” says Kevin Carbonnier, PhD, project manager, NBI, and co-author of the report.

TASK 5 STUDY

PORT OF PORTLAND Portland, Ore.

The research team from the NBI report did a deeper look at nine buildings that were part of the Task 5 study on energy use and occupant satisfaction. HYDRONIC PIPING SOFTWARE Appropriate Designs, in collaboration with Capraro Technologies, Inc., recently released HydroSketch, a cloud-based software tool for making piping and electrical schematics associated with hydronic systems. Created for those who need to quickly and easily create schematic drawings for hydronic heating or cooling systems, HydroSketch is simpler, more intuitive and less expensive than traditional CAD software. HydroSketch www.hydrosketch.com CIRCLE 306

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The team performed a cost valuation of the radiant system vs. other HVAC systems and concluded radiant provided the most cost savings. The 205,500-sq.-ft. office was built at a construction cost of $78.7 million/$384 sq. ft. and has annual whole building energy costs of $0.94/ sq. ft. ZGF Architects, PAE Engineers and Northwest Engineering Services, designed 56,000 sq. ft. of metal radiant ceiling panels in all office occupied areas to meet heating and cooling needs. Every

radiant zone is independently controlled via a four-pipe system. The radiant system is active 24/7 with space temperature setback during unoccupied periods. The dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) at the

Port meets ventilation needs and provides dehumidification. The efficiency is improved by the inclusion of heat recovery from the building exhaust air and a supply air temperature control system that varies based on outdoor temperature.

 LOWER EUI

The building has an EUI of 46 kBTU/sq. ft., which is a reduction compared to the average office EUI performance of the national Energy Information Agency Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption survey and the Calif. Commercial Energy Use Survey.

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HVAC

CASE STUDY

CITY CREEK CENTER Salt Lake City, Utah

The multi-billion development is an upscale, open-air shopping center that includes office and residential buildings and a variety of water features, designed by architects ZGF, Hobbs+Black, and Callison.

SNOW MELTING All walkways, stairs and common areas are snow melted. These areas include large open or enclosed spaces of both malls, fully served with radiant heat.

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For the radiant and snowmelt systems, the VFDs modulate flow to track heating or snow melting demand precisely as ambient temperatures change. On the cooling side, the VFDs adjust flow based on the need to transport and reject heat. As the load diminishes, flow and energy usage are reduced. CCI Mechanical, installed 18.5 miles of 0.75-in. Watts Radiant PEX+ tubing for the 84,365-sq.-ft. snowmelt systems alone.

 MILES OF TUBING 18.5 miles of Watts Radiant PEX+ tubing was installed for the 84,365-sq.-ft. snowmelt system. Another 102,600 lineal feet circulate fluids within the 25 indoor radiant zones.

Interestingly, most buildings—43%—were in the climate zone of the Coastal Pacific Northwest, or Coastal California. Offices made up the largest portion of building types, followed by education and library. The number of buildings in the study, distributed by size, was split evenly above and below 50,000 sq. ft., with buildings greater than 50,000 sq. ft. representing 52% of the buildings, but nearly 90% of the total square feet in the dataset. According to the report, although a radiant system is not the sole driver of good energy performance, it can be an important part of an integrated approached from design and technology selection through to occupancy and operations. “Radiant can be successfully incorporated anywhere, it’s just a matter of properly designing the system within your climate. Some common issues

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that come from radiant are improper control and condensation due to poor humidity management; Radiant becomes more challenging in extreme climates, in which case it may need to be paired with secondary systems to provide supplemental heating/cooling,” says Carbonnier. There is a bit of a misconception regarding radiant cooling installations in areas of high humidity, with the idea that you are putting your system at risk for surface condensation, which can be true if you are unable to effectively manage the indoor relative humidity. “If you look at ASHRAE Standard 55—Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy—and what you need to do to in order to maintain the optimum indoor environment, then you are operating within a humidity range where you won’t have condensation issues with the radiant system,” says Abellon.

Planners set out to provide environmental control and comfort for two 160,000-sq.-ft. retail mall spaces, each connected by an enclosed, environmentally controlled sky bridge. Each of the malls can be opened to the elements and fresh air, or closed to provide optimal comfort inside, thanks to the automatically retractable roof and wall systems.

Structural and civil engineers were Magnusson Klemencic Assocs.

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t 15

TASK 5 STUDY

The NBI report further says, for occupant satisfaction, though not definitive, the radiant dataset did show a tendency to perform at least as well as allair systems in terms of thermal comfort. Acoustically, there was no significant difference observed in this study between the two system types. The UC Berkeley team meticulously analyzed the results of a survey about occupant demographics and indoor air quality compared them to a comparable subset of non-radiant or “all-air” buildings from the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) database of past occupant surveys. The resulting comparison set included 26 radiant buildings—1645 occupants—and 34 specifically selected all-air buildings—2247 occupants. The analysis showed that radiant and all-air buildings have equal indoor environmental quality, including acoustical satisfaction, with a tendency toward equal or improved thermal comfort in radiant buildings.

CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES San Francisco, Calif.

A key aspect of the academy project is a radiant floor heating and cooling system that provides comfort to 38,000 sq. ft. of the main exhibition level. The radiant system consists of 100,000 linear feet of PEX tubing, connected to six, 20,000BTU/hour boilers and three, 4-ton chillers. “At night, when the space is shut and empty, the glass will let a lot of the heat out, so the system will keep the indoor temperatures up at a reasonable level,” says Paul Switenki, project engineer, Arup. “In the morning, the system will heat the space early enough to make it comfortable as people begin to arrive. During the day, you won’t see the heat used too much, depending upon the occupancy load.”

TASK 5 STUDY

OREGON DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION, Portland, Ore.

SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION Designed by Portland-based SERA Architects, and engineered by Stantec and PAE Engineers, the renovation project reorganized the Oregon DOT’s workspaces, providing the employees with improved daylight, better IAQ and collaboration spaces. Radiant cooling and heating systems were a major reason the building was able to achieve low-energy success.

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Yet, when it comes to radiant, there are perceived prohibitive factors involved, says Carbonnier. “Because of higher upfront cost—although longterm radiant is likely a better option for energy costs—and a lack of familiarity with radiant systems, most designers are comfortable with VAVducted systems, so it takes a high-performance goal or specific desire from the building owner to go for radiant. For high-performance buildings, it is a good choice, but not the only one.

COLOR ME RADIANT The ODOT retrofit replaced conventional window air conditioners with radiant ceiling panels for heating and cooling throughout the open office spaces. The radiant system receives hot water from two central gas-fired boilers and cold water from the three chillers. The central chiller provides chilled water at a higher set point to minimize condensation risk. Non-office spaces, such as break rooms, lobbies and conference rooms, are supplemented with variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems to respond to a higher variety of occupancy loads.

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Ultimately, says NBI through its findings, although a radiant system is not the sole driver of highperformance, it is a valuable option for achieving low-energy outcomes. Selecting a radiant system usually means limiting the overall design cooling load because there are physical limitations to how much cooling a radiant system can achieve. This translates to a better envelope, lower lighting loads, and efforts to reduce plug loads, which in turn reduce overall building energy consumption.

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HVAC

ADVANCEMENTS

TABS, and Radiant Technology

MULTI-FUNCTION HYDRAULIC SEPARATOR The SEP4 saves on system installation and maintenance costs with four high-performance functions combined into one: hydraulic separation, micro-bubble coalescing air separation, dirt separation and magnetic separation. Includes thermowell tap, preformed insulation jacket and easy-to-use drain valve. Constructed of corrosion-resistant functional parts for a long, trouble-free operating life.

MANIFOLD CHECK Tubing lines that supply heating and cooling to the building converge at a series of Uponor manifolds.

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TABS TECHNOLOGY An innovative ventilation heat exchanger—the labyrinth shown here—was constructed out of concrete and includes air flow diverters and partitions. The concrete captures the heat of the day or the cool of the night, holds onto that thermal energy, and then slowly releases it to help warm or cool the ventilation air supply.

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Caleffi www.caleffi.com CIRCLE 305

The upfront costs are higher and fewer engineers have experience designing radiant systems.” Carbonnier says further that operational costs are typically lower with better energy outcomes compared to buildings, and the NBI report served to provide case studies of successful projects and show that radiant buildings typically perform better than code level, benchmark buildings.

And, with of the growing list of successful projects, building owners are becoming more comfortable with radiant, and it could be a viable solution for them. “As we see more of these buildings with radiant systems installed, building owners can see that their occupants are much more comfortable. In the end, you are getting a building that has higher occupancy satisfaction ratings while saving energy. It’s a win-win,” says Abellon.

DATAPOINT

Energy Performance of ODOT Building vs. Benchmarks

America e acific America f World

48%

EUI (KBTU/FT2)

32%

31% 19%

BASELINE

40 30 20

BETTER PERFORMANCE

10 0

CEUS 2006 AVERAGE

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CBECS 2012 MEDIAN

DOE BPD MEDIAN

ASHRAE STD 100 TARGET

STUDY DATASET MEDIAN (n=23)

 ODOT PERFORMS The ODOT building outperforms various national and state-level benchmarks. The building uses slightly more than half the energy of its code baseline.

Thermally Activated Building Systems (TABS) is one type of radiant technology in which the thermal mass of the building is heated or cooled in order to condition the building space. This thermal mass is typically the structural floor slab for TABS. Other radiant technologies include radiant panels, and embedded surface systems (ESS), which heat or cool a surface rather than an entire floor slab as we see in TABS. The floor slab is heated or cooled via tubing that runs within the slab, running heated or chilled water in most cases supplied from a chiller, boiler, or other HVAC equipment.

The NBI study focused on high thermal mass radiant systems—TABS where radiant tubing is embedded in a structural slab. Also included were ESS with tubing embedded in topping slabs, and ceiling panel systems, where the piping is located in metal panels suspended from the ceiling. The main advantage  TURNING 75 of using the TABS system In 1943, Danfoss founder, is that it reduces the Mads Clausen, invented the world’s first radiator therpeak load by activating mostat. 75 years later, the the thermal storage product is more relevant capacity of a building’s 40,000 Megawatts than ever in a world trying concrete slab. “Many to control the temperature. of the radiant systems In Europe alone, there are we’ve seen throughout over 500 million radiators the world are surfacewith manual and unreguconditioning projects lated valves. If you installed where we are managing radiator thermostats on them all, Europeans could the surface temperature. save 12 billion euro and 130 With the TABS system, TWh of energy every year. we are actually we are The upgrade would reduce taking advantage of the Europe’s annual CO2 emisentire structure so we sions by 29 billion tons. have much more thermal mass,” says Devin AbelDanfoss lon, Uponor. www.danfoss.com CIRCLE 304

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ENVELOPE

ALAN WEIS

| NZB: ENVELOPE |

Testing the Idea of Testing Building test labs, such as Berkeley National Labs’ facilities, are paving the way toward optimized envelope efficiency by exploring how integrated system solutions perform on a small scale in order to extrapolate that performance to full-scale implementation in the real world.

Alan Weis, a contributing writer for Architectural Products, covers thermal management issues, including building envelope and HVAC systems.

here are plenty of products, systems and practices out there that promise to build energy efficiency into one’s building envelope. And while most can legitimately do what they say they can, it’s impossible to actually know if it will perform as promised until the building is completed and in use. And even then, while certain components may indeed operate as advertised under “standard conditions,” it’s not always a guarantee that the entire envelope will work together as a cohesive “force field,” if you will, against the wide natural variations of solar conditions and temperature—except, of course, when it makes sense to open the windows. But what if it was possible to remove most of the guesswork by testing the envelope before it was built—or even completely designed for that matter? And not just virtually testing it, but rather physically test it in an environment mimicking actual conditions—and as integrated with other building systems? It’s no pipe dream. This “fantasy” is exactly the concept behind the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s FLEXLAB—Facility for Low Energy Experiments in Buildings—at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The California facility—which includes a pair of side-by-side 600-sq.-ft test beds to track and test sun exposure impacts and other high-tech features—allows companies to determine the optimal combination of systems within the lab space, then extrapolate it at full scale. This allows A/E teams to find and fix the inevitable mistakes that occur in design, long before they become expensive change orders.

optimal scenarios for building systems first, the facility can not only help testing companies reduce their own energy use and costs, but it can also point the buildings industry as a whole in the right direction.

First Up The first company to use the test bed was biotech firm Genentech, who wanted to test its systems for a new 250,000-sq.-ft. building at its South San Francisco headquarters. The company and project general contractor, Webcor, contracted with Berkeley Lab to test lighting, lighting controls, shade fabric and automated shading controls to ensure that these elements, as installed and operated in the new office building, would function in a way that reduces energy consumption and provides a comfortable work environment for its employees.

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According to DOE, nearly 40% of all energy, and over two-thirds of all electricity, consumed in the United States, goes toward operating commercial, industrial and residential buildings—at costs in excess of $400 billion per year. By determining

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Net Zero Energy by 2020 This is our stated aim for our 100+ manufacturing facilities globally

The pursuit of Net Zero Energy is at the heart of what we aim to achieve, both for ourselves and for the built environment as a whole. Our array of products and solutions complete the building envelope and help architects, owners and occupants along their own NZE journeys. Within Kingspan, we aim to use only renewable sources of power through saving, generating and procuring.

A global drive which began in 2011 at 0% NZE has now pushed us to achieving 69% NZE in 2017.

Let’s journey together

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CASE STUDY

U.S. COAST GUARD HEADQUARTERS

Washington, D.C.

Credit: ©Steinkamp Photography

The landscape design, by Andropogon, for the courtyards, edges and green roofs of the Perkins+Will-designed U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, provides continuity in the landscape between the existing woodlands that surround the USCG site and the historical campus to the east.

HARD SELL To make it easier to bring the beauty of ipe hardwoods to light commercial buildings, this wood panel maker has added a new décor to its Trespa Pura NFC siding line: Tropical Ipe, décor No. PU30, matte finish. Known as one of the most durable and beautiful hardwoods on the market, Tropical Ipe Décor is similar to its namesake in both appearance and durability, but without the maintenance. The décor features a blend of reddish brown hues and sleek, even grain patterns. Its tones reflect the look of untreated ipe, which is often darker due to moisture absorption.

 NATURAL LIGHT The building wings step and reveal to break down the scale and allow for greater penetration of natural daylight to lessen the demand of artificial lighting and reduce energy.

BY DETERMINING OPTIMAL SCENARIOS FOR BUILDING SYSTEMS FIRST, THE FACILITY CAN NOT ONLY HELP TESTING COMPANIES REDUCE THEIR OWN ENERGY USE AND COSTS, BUT IT CAN ALSO POINT THE BUILDINGS INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

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 HISTORIC LANDSCAPE The landscape structure incorporates multiple courtyards that help integrate the 1.2 millionsq.-ft. facility within the surrounding historic landscape, and both help manage stormwater and create distinctive amenities for the building’s users.

Testing also included three of the building’s façades: west, south and east. External shading, lighting and internal shading control were configured for each orientation to replicate the real-life conditions of the building. The three façades were each tested for one week three times between July and October 2014, with changes being made between each test to improve the performance of the various systems. This included testing the building’s motorized window shades (provided by MechoSystems) and automated lighting controls.

Research Report A report from Berkeley Lab helped the owner make some key decisions: The shades in each window had a different color fabric, one dark gray and one medium gray, both using a weave with 3% openness. In the end, based on staff observations in the test rooms under different sun conditions, Genentech selected the darker shade as it offered a better view of the exterior compared to the lighter one. 22 u

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NEWS

All-In on Biogas Kingspan is now incorporating natural biogas at all of its business entities in North America. The move is part of the company’s strategy to become a Net Zero Energy company by 2020. It is collaborating with Canada’s Bullfrog Power to ship, by pipeline, methane to Kingspan’s sites. As it is used, biogas releases only the CO2 that is part of the natural carbon cycle that would have been released at the landfill sites where it was collected. Globally in 2016, the Kingspan group used 164.4 GWh of renewable electricity, almost a sixfold increase from 2011 – equivalent to not burning 55 million tons of coal.

CASE STUDY

Visual comfort was also explored. While visual discomfort during the worst-case sunny winter condition was not evaluated, the eastfacing orientation during the equinox period was exposed to low sun angles in the third test period, so findings of acceptable visual discomfort are expected to be similar to what might be experienced during the winter. The shades operated as expected on sunny days, which was the predominant condition during the test period. As hoped, the testing identified substantial potential energy savings for the shading and lighting systems. One control change suggested by the testing was stopping the shade above the sill, preventing the shade from completely covering the window on sunny days. This provided a splash of sunlight on the floor near the window in a manner that was not disturbing but helped to brighten the space when the shade was down. On partly cloudy days, which occurred more

LEMVIG, DENMARK

frequently after testing concluded, anecdotal evidence suggested that the shades could be raised more often. Berkeley Lab recommended that a second threshold be implemented that drops the shade partway to prevent direct glare from bright sun, but doesn’t close the shade down to the height required to limit sunshine depth. “FLEXLAB was instrumental in optimizing a design, saving 55% lighting energy use over an initial concept that already included daylight dimming controls,” notes Cindy Regnier, PE, PEng, LEED AP, technical leader for commercial building systems with Berkeley Lab and the executive manager of FLEXLAB. “At the same time, the experiment was able to provide system tuning parameters to Webcor, enabling the commissioning process to be accelerated.”

 BUILDING BUOYANCY The building is a relatively simple two-story structure with an open glass facade on the ground floor that makes the wood-clad upper floor appear to float in the air. The height and placement of the building are carefully designed with respect to the existing buildings on the harbor front.

Centering on the Climate 3XN has won the competition to build Denmark’s new international climate center, the Climatorium, in the Danish city of Lemvig. The building will support Denmark’s role as an exporter of climate solutions and help establish Lemvig and the Central Denmark Region as a center of climate change adaptation. The project, developed for Lemvig City Council and Lemvig Utility, is a collaboration with urban development consultancy SLA and technical advisory services company Orbicon. Scheduled to be completed by 2020, the Climatorium aims to attract visitors as a place to view exhibitions and learn about climate change issues.

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 A WAVE HELLO While rectilinear, the building incorporates a wave design that shapes the entrance, creating an inviting space sheltered from the elements. The entrance is a wavy organic pocket built from light-toned wood.

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E NVE LOPE

TEST FACILITY

Revolving Around Efficiency

FLEXLAB, BERKELEY The California facility—which includes a pair of side-by-side 600-sq.-ft test beds to track and test sun exposure impacts and other high-tech features—allows companies to determine the optimal combination of systems within the lab space, then extrapolate it at full scale.

 TEST COMPARTMENTS Berkeley’s Singapore counterpart features two configurable test compartments that can test design solutions and conduct performance validation against a control group or benchmark code.

SINGAPORE

 LAB SPIN SkyLab’s key differentiator from FLEXLAB is the rotatable 52.5-ft. diameter platform system that allows for testing in a variety of orientations relative to the sun, which can be particularly useful for studying HVAC, lighting and shading strategies.

While this was just a portion of the testing done for the new Genentech building, it demonstrates what is possible as well as the intricacies and considerations that can be applied to testing of this or other projects. The building is now occupied and performing well. Genentech was sufficiently pleased with the FLEXLAB experience and results that they returned to collaborate with LBNL staff on other building projects. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to energy use. When continued below the surface—and outside of the lab—the possibilities for increased efficiency are significant and worthy of diving deep. Furthermore, these design and operational strategies that enhance energy

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WHAT IF IT WAS POSSIBLE TO REMOVE MOST OF THE GUESSWORK BY TESTING THE ENVELOPE BEFORE IT WAS BUILT—OR EVEN COMPLETELY DESIGNED FOR THAT MATTER?

performance routinely improve comfort and satisfaction in the spaces, topics of great concern to most building owners and operators today. To learn more about the FLEXLAB facility, visit www.flexlab.lbl.gov.

The Singapore government’s Building and Construction Authority has taken the concept of building test facilities to the top. Inspired by Berkeley Lab’s FLEXLAB, BCA’s SkyLab is a stateof-the-art rotatable test facility perched on the top of a building (so as not to be blocked from the sun and elements by other buildings) and is capable of testing a wide range of energyefficiency technologies, including air distribution, lighting, façade elements, plug loads and control strategies. Its plug-andplay approach provides a quantitative assessment of technologies as individual elements or in configurations with other elements and systems.

IN AND OUT Alpha Brewing Co. has taken its business to the next level with a new, expanded headquarters in St. Louis. At more than 13,000 sq. ft., the facility combines a taproom and restaurant. 3,000 sq. ft of Metl-Span 4-in. CF42 Light Mesa

insulated metal panels (IMPs) offer an R-value of 30.86, for the facility’s walk-in coolers, and an additional 3,000 sq. ft of 2-in. Metl-Span IMPs for the brewery’s exterior cladding. Metl-Span www.metlspan.com CIRCLE 302

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POWER

CHUCK ROSS

| NZB: ONSITE POWER |

Growing the Microgrid Market By bringing an “as-a-service” model to microgrids, capital-laden developers and technology companies are able to sell reliability and resilience benefits to corporate buyers or individual entities, without the need for the latter to incur the upfront investment.

Chuck Ross is a freelance writer covering building design and technology topics. He has been writing about building efficiency issues, including onsite energy and demandside management topics, for more than 20 years.

ith every severe weather event, the concept of microgrids gains greater attention from property owners, regional planners and the popular press. But, while everyone can appreciate the need for the kind of resilience a microgrid can support, upfront equipment and installation costs can still be prohibitive. This is why the “as-a-service” model of third-party ownership has begun expanding into the microgrid market, and could help support the expansion of distributed energy resources (DERs) to a broader range of customers.

Meaning and Markets Microgrids can be a confusing technology to define. They have often been described as networks of multiple DERs and their connected loads, which are capable of operating with or without grid-supplied power. However, GTM Research recently broadened their definition to include installations with a single DER serving a single building and being able to operate independently for at least 24 hours. So what sets such “basic” microgrids apart from common back-up power scenarios? The key differentiator lies in intelligence—microgrids, at least according to GTM, can offer both power and energy services, whether grid-connected or in islanded mode. Those are capabilities that generally require more in controls than a simple breaker switch.

ways, which can include a per-kilowatt-hour (kWh) rate for self-generated electricity if the system includes on-site resources installed behind the customer meter. Additionally, the system owner also might layer on additional revenue streams by participating in demand response programs or selling ancillary services back to the grid. At the most basic level, Houston-based Enchanted Rock offers on-demand backup power to supermarkets, senior living facilities and manufacturing plants by siting its natural gas generators at customer sites. During grid outages, customers disconnect from the grid and are 100% supported by the generators. When not needed for backup operations, the generators can be remotely operated by the company. Aggregated output from multiple generators can then be sold into the local electricity market.

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With this definition in mind, GTM has forecast annual microgrid spending will double in the next four years, from $1.4 billion in 2017 to $2.8 billion in 2022, and the microgrid-as-a-service (MaaS) model—which also is being marketed as “reliability-as-a-service”—could be a big driver. In these arrangements, a third party, often with funding from institutional investors, pays the capital cost. That investment can be paid back in multiple

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PV Panels Make a Statement The striking blue exterior of the Copenhagen International School by C.F. Møller Architects, isn’t just another cool European façade system—it’s actually comprised of 12,000 individual solar panels designed for both power and beauty. The panels were developed by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland. Special filters are applied in nanometric layers, where the type of filter used determines which wavelengths of light will be reflected as visible color. The K-12 school is now Copenhagen’s largest. The unique solar panels are expected to generate half of the school’s electrical demand.

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PORTABLE POWER

Sunbolt Campus XL solar charging workstations are designed to stand up to 130 mph winds, which makes them well-suited to the campus of Puerto Rico University, where six of the units are scheduled for installation. With a 1-kW solar array and 225-amp lead-acid battery, the systems can charge 75 to 150 handheld mobile devices per day, with tabletop LED lighting to make nighttime charging easier. Sunbolt www.gosunbolt.com CIRCLE 301

THE NEW FACE OF SOLAR POWER Developed over 12 years by researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland, the school’s PV panels double as the building’s cladding. Up top, its rooftop greenhouses produce vegetables for Copenhagen International School’s kitchens.

 COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

New Financing Options Bringing in new financial options that minimize a customer’s upfront costs could be a gamechanger for the microgrid industry. According to Mark Feasal, vice president of Schneider Electric’s electric utility segment/smart grid business in the United States, this new model is helping such installations grow beyond the military bases, university campuses and hospitals, where they’ve predominated up until now. “A major hurdle was that once you go beyond owner-occupied facilities, you’ve got to deal with customers who want some sort of return on investment” in as little as two to three years, he says. While a microgrid will pay for itself over time, he adds, “You’re talking about something that could be a seven to 15-year ROI.” However, at the same time, many commercial and industrial businesses are looking for ways to build sustainability more firmly into their business practices. Feasal notes that 80% of Fortune 500 companies now issue annual sustainability reports to their shareholders. Those firms are looking for ways to source more of their energy sustainably, without having to take on the responsibility for owning and maintaining

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new capital equipment. “That’s probably asking too much of somebody whose business is doing something else,” Feasal says, describing how Schneider Electric has gotten into the third-party development model. “We needed to take all of those risks off the back of the commercial/industrial customer. We developed a platform we call ‘energy as a service,’ and we remove all that risk.” Schneider Electric’s program is backed with financing from Duke Energy Renewables, which owns the microgrids that are managed by Schneider Electric’s control systems. Duke’s subsidiary REC Solar is often involved in the design and installation of the systems. For many in the commercial/industrial market, these third-party arrangements already are a familiar business model, thanks to the proliferation of similarly structured power purchase agreements (PPAs) that have helped finance large numbers of solar installations.

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POWER

“Solar PPAs have made this conversation a whole lot easier to have—there are so many out there,” says Clark Wiedetz, director of microgrids for Siemens Energy Management, another big player in the MaaS market. “You may do it for cash-flow purposes or you may not have a whole lot of people you want to put on the asset.” Wiedetz says Siemens, for one, is now seeing many more projects moving beyond the pilot stage, proof-of-concept type efforts that predominated a few years ago. “The number of opportunities for us have doubled, year over year. The marketplace we’re seeing is very diverse.” Siemens targets projects with a demand of at least 1 megawatt (MW)—though most are higher, Wiedetz says. At that scale, installations can become more complicated due to inconsistent treatment of the equipment and its operation by local utilities and state regulators. “There’s

just a complete lack in consistency and it goes from state to state,” he says, which means each installation can be unique for developers and integrators. “Sometimes, it’s the interconnection, sometimes it’s the location. It’s also, potentially, does there need to be an upgrade to a substation and who’s going to pay for that upgrade? You see the same thing in solar—solar entities still struggle on a case-by-case basis.”

Walking the Talk Schneider Electric is realizing the benefits of MaaS at its own North American headquarters in the Boston suburb of Andover, Mass. Called the Boston One Campus, the two-building facility is located along a stretch of the local distribution grid that’s plagued by periodic outages. Additionally, the company’s corporate leadership is working toward a goal of powering itself with 100% renewable energy by 2030. 28 u

MICROGRID ON WHEELS Based on a design created for a nature preserve, the mobile microgrid from Faith Technologies and Excellerate Manufacturing packs multiple distributed energy resources, along with controls and connectors into a standard freight container. Included are a 9kW array, a 144kWh lithium-ion battery system and a 10kW hydrogen fuel cell. Faith Technologies faithtechnologies.com CIRCLE 300

IN THE NEWS

“THE NUMBER OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR US HAVE DOUBLED, YEAR OVER YEAR. THE MARKETPLACE WE’RE SEEING [FOR MICROGRID-AS-A-SERVICE] IS VERY DIVERSE.” IN THE NEWS

Utilities Now Driving Distributed Wind Installation The United States added 83.7 MW of distributed wind capacity in 2017, driving total installed capacity over 1 gigawatt, with larger turbines making up the majority

of the market. Turbines larger than 1 MW made up more than 78 MW of 2017’s installations, with the smallest units—up to 100 kW—responsible for only 1.7 MW. Iowa,

now home to 63.5 MW of installed wind, has moved ahead of Texas to lead the nation in distributed wind capacity.

220

1,100

Wind Turbines ≤ 100 kW Wind Turbines 101 kW-1 MW Wind Turbines › 1 MW All Distributed Wind Cumulative Capacity

CAPACITY ADDITION (MW)

180 160

1,000 Annual Additions

900 800

140

700

120

600

100

500

400

300

200

100

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Year www.nzbmagazine.com

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2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

CUMULATIVE CAPACITY (MW)

200

Senate Considers Blockchain Blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, is a hot topic among those who would like to enable rooftop solar panel owners to trade the electricity they generate with their neighbors, but such peer-to-peer sales could send energy use skyrocketing. Those topics were raised in a recent U.S. Senate hearing. Currently, cryptocurrency “mining” uses about the same amount of power as one to two million households. On the plus side, hearing panelists suggest blockchain-based trading could make it easier to aggregate the output of distributed energy resources to help balance grid operations. the technology’s potentially broad applications mean ongoing research—possibly federally funded— should include partnerships that stretch across a range of industries.

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POWER

Q3 2017 MICROGRID CAPACITY FORECAST, 2017E-2022E

DATAPOINT

No Micro Growth GTM Research has forecast a bullish U.S. market for microgrids, with capacity seeing compound annual growth rates between 10.3% and 18.3% between 2016 and 2022. The as-a-service model could help support growth toward the higher end of that range.

CUMULATIVE FORECASTED MICROGRID CAPACITY (MW)

8,500

8.1 GW

7,500

2016-2022 CAGR Base: 14.1% Low: 10.3% High: 18.3%

6,500 5,500

6.5 GW 5.3 GW

4,500 3,500 2,500 1,500

Base Low High

2016

2017E

2018E

2019E

2020E

2021E

2022E

2.943 2.943 2.943

3.295 3.229 3.295

3.823 3.667 3.878

4.465 4.119 4.701

5.115 4.540 5.670

5.712 4.900 6.733

6.497 5.308 8.064

Source: GTM Research, U.S. Microgrid Tracker Q3 2017

“A MAJOR HURDLE WAS THAT ONCE YOU GO BEYOND OWNER-OCCUPIED FACILITIES, YOU’VE GOT TO DEAL WITH CUSTOMERS WHO WANT RETURN ON INVESTMENT. WE NEEDED TO TAKE ALL OF THOSE RISKS OFF THE BACK OF THE COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMER.”

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The new microgrid addresses both concerns, with a system incorporating:  465 kilowatts (kW) of solar capacity, installed across rooftops and parking canopies.  A natural gas generator that serves as an anchor backup resource.  Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to aid transition to backup resources.  Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxture control software. Upon loss of primary power from the local distribution grid, UPS systems provide short-term support as the generator kicks in to cover 400 kW of the campus’ 800 kW load. As the system islands the campus from the grid, solar panel output, as it is available, helps meet added power needs.

Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxture control software is at the heart of a microgrid powering its new Boston headquarters.

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The new microgrid is providing improved energy security while also moving the company incrementally toward its sustainability goals—and it’s also helping prove out the MaaS model Schneider Electric is marketing to other commercial, industrial and institutional customers around the country. Its business partner Duke Energy Renewables actually owns the newly installed solar, which was installed by its REC Solar subsidiary. Electricity from the solar panels also helps support general operational needs, and Schneider

Electric purchases that electricity from Duke at a flat kilowatt-hour rate. While the company also still pays a monthly bill from its local electric utility, the combined total is approximately 15% less than its previous monthly electric expense, Feasal says.

Clustering Up Microgrids are generally designed to operate in isolation as virtual “islands.” But as these installations become more common, especially in dense, urban areas, it could become important to understand how they can join forces to make their operations a little less “micro.” That’s one of the goals of project Siemens is helping to design on Chicago’s South Side.

The Schneider Electric microgrid maintains seamless operations through both periodic shortterm outages and longer-term events. The company paid nothing upfront for the PV carports and rooftop panels that also help meet a large portion of the facility’s electrical load—instead, it purchases the power from developer Duke Energy Renewables.



BATTERY BACKUP FOR HIGH-VOLTAGE PHI high-voltage batteries use a non-hazardous lithium ferro phosphate chemistry that requires no coolants, even as it supplies nominal voltages ranging from 200 VDC to 800 VDC. Stacked systems offer capacity ranging up to 2 megawatt-hours to provide load shifting, emergency backup and demand response functions. SimpliPhi www.simpliphipower.com CIRCLE 299

A ‘Base’-Load of Solar Power Military base microgrids are nothing new–but the system that began the final stages of commissioning in August at the Otis Air National Guard Base on Cape Cod in Massachusetts is the first sized to keep an entire base running while operating in island mode. Equally significant, the project comes with an anticipated five-year payback. Once it’s fully operational, the microgrid is expected to net $500,000-$1 million per year, through peak-demand reduction, participation in demand-response programs and in providing frequency-regulation services to the regional transmission-system operator ISO New England—a first.

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POWER

IN THE NEWS

Chicago Home to Nation’s Greenest Buildings

The index is assembled each year by the commercial real estate firm CBRE and Maastricht University. Researchers working on the index note they’ve also found that buildings that have earned these green certifications can gain up to a 10% premium when sold.

CHICAGO, IL

Chicago once again claimed the top spot in this year’s U.S. Green Building Adoption Index, with almost 70% of its office space considered green-certified. San Francisco came in second at 64% and Atlanta has the third spot at 58.4%. Overall, green-certified office space across the 30 largest U.S. metro areas now makes up 41% of market totals. Qualifying buildings hold either Energy Star label from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and/ or LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

IN THE NEWS

The Bronzeville neighborhood is located adjacent to one of the nation’s leading engineering schools, the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), which is already home to its own microgrid. Siemens is part of a team that includes the local utility, ComEd, and other suppliers now developing a neighborhood-level microgrid that will interconnect with the IIT system. The idea is these two networks could provide mutual support during a grid outage—and, possibly, grid support, as well. Siemens, which has developed control software similar to what the company offers to local utilities for managing their distribution grids, is involved in both phases of the two-phase development effort. The first phase will include 2.5 MW of load and approximately 490 commercial and residential customers. ComEd will be adding 2 megawatt-hours (MWh) of battery energy storage and an outside developer will be supplying up to 0.75 MW of solar panels. Phase 2 will add 4.5 MW of load (for a total of 7 MW) and 570 more customers. Among these will be critical facilities that include both police and fire headquarters, multiple schools and a senior center. This is also when the interconnection with IIT will be put in place.

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This project is as unique from a regulatory perspective as it is in its technology. As part of the settlement with utility regulators at the Illinois Commerce Commission allowing ComEd to spread the cost of this very local project across all its ratepayers, the company is developing a new rate plan for customer-created microgrids. Similar to the Bronzeville project, the idea is these new networks could be overlaid on top of ComEd’s existing infrastructure. It’s a complicated effort that’s forcing all involved to rethink the standard utility/customer relationship.

THE U.S. ADDED 83.7MW OF DISTRIBUTED WIND CAPACITY IN 2017, DRIVING TOTAL INSTALLED CAPACITY OVER 1GW, WITH LARGER TURBINES MAKING UP MOST OF THE MARKET. “It’s radical that it’s being done in a distribution system,” said Ken Geisler, Siemens vice president for smart grid business strategy. “That’s why this is such a forward-thinking and landmark project—in a sense, the technology is the easy part.”

Second Electric Agreement Pursues Service Opportunities Duke Energy isn’t the only financial powerhouse Schneider Electric has teamed up with to bring third-party ownership to the market–it’s also part of a strategic alliance with the Carlyle Group, and microgrid owner and operator Dynamic Energy Netowrks (DEN). The Carlyle Group backing is providing new funding to expand DEN’s energy-as-a-service portfolio – DEN has designed more than 60 microgrids totaling more than 200 MW of capacity. As in its relationship with Duke, Schneider Electric brings design and controls expertise to this partnership.

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DAYLIGHTING

BARBARA HORWITZ-BENNETT

| NZB: DAYLIGHTING |

The Evolution of Daylighting Software Laureate of one of Velux’s coveted 2018 Daylight Awards for Research, Greg Ward not only created the Radiance simulation tool some 30 years ago, but he continues to support its development and application by actively and generously engaging its many and varied users.

Barbara HorwitzBennett has been reporting on the architectural industry for the past 15 years. She covers glazing and daylighting for Architectural Products, and in 2011 contributed to an important industry white paper on net-zero buildings.

escribed as the world’s leading physically accurate daylight rendering engine, Radiance has stood the test of time and continues to evolve into increasingly complex applications. “Greg Ward’s impact on the simulation world around daylighting is enormous,” proclaims Marilyne Andersen, Dean, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Director, Interdisciplinary Laboratory of Performance-Integrated Design, Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland. A 2016 Velux Daylight Award winner and juror for this year’s award, she notes Ward basically invented and developed a calculation engine that is still today the absolute reference in terms of accuracy and reliability of daylight modeling—and is at the basis of the majority of commercial software for daylight modeling today. In tandem with this international honor, Net Zero Buildings sat down with Ward to gain some insights into Radiance’s past and where the software is headed today.

By determining which bit of geometry a ray intersects, these subdivided cubes can be utilized to avoid testing for intersection against geometry that is nowhere near the ray, thereby saving an enormous amount of time. Initially, Ward thought he had come up with a novel, original concept, but soon discovered that two other researchers had independently published similar findings. However, Ward was able to benefit from their research to fine-tune his own code. “So this was the unlikely and inauspicious start of Radiance,” he quips. Next, Ward turned his attention to lighting analysis. To help lay the groundwork, he decided against the then-current convention of converting images to a limited integer domain; instead opting to save out images in a 4-byte “floating point” HDR format.

No one is interested in windowless buildings, yet the industry is at an odd juncture where LED lighting has gotten so cheap and efficient that one can completely exclude daylight from a design and come out ahead in terms of energy use. What is daylight’s true value?

32

The Prelude After earning his bachelor’s in Physics from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in Computer Science at San Francisco State in 1985, Ward was hooked after taking the summer course, “Image Rendering Tricks.” “This spurred my interest in ray-tracing. The only problem with it was that it took a very long time due to the cost of comparing each ray to each geometric object in the scene description.” Determined to come up with a solution to this quandary, Ward eventually applied an octree data structure to accelerate ray intersection tests. An octree is defined as the data representation of up to eight nodes in a branching structure which can be subdivided recursively.

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DAYLIGHTING

CASE STUDY

Translucent Panels Clad Parking Garage Delivering a nice aesthetic, while meeting the owner’s ventilation requirements and blending into the adjacent buildings, Fitzgerald Assocs. Architects specified Pentaglas cladding for Chicago’s Spoke Apartment Complex parking garage. “There’s an interweaving of three different brick colors going up both buildings,” explains architect Peter Szczelina, Fitzgerald Associates Architects, Chicago. “Ultimately, the horizontal bands of [Pentaglas] panels kept in character with the horizontal banding of the masonry in both towers.”

HORIZONTAL BANDING Masking the unsightly concrete, a pattern of four, 16mmthick panels travel vertically across the garage creating “horizontal ribbons” of different depths. Serving as a bridge to a 12-story residential tower and a two-story retail development in the city’s River West neighborhood, the translucent panels were an ideal choice.



THE QUESTION MUST BE ASKED: WHAT IS THE TRUE VALUE OF DAYLIGHT IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT?

Kingspan Light + Air | CPI Daylighting www.cpidaylighting.com CIRCLE 298  30

Downsizing Cables in Daylight Harvesting AFC Cable Systems introduces a product designed specifically for use in daylight harvesting applications. The MC Luminary MultiZone can replace up to

six individual cable runs by combining electric lighting and control circuits under a single interlocked armor saving time and money.

AFC Cable Systems www.afcweb.com CIRCLE 297

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At this point, Ward was already a staff scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California and had spent some time learning about lighting units. “It was a nice little exercise for me to sort out how to go from proper photometric measurements of a light source to actual photometric pixel values, using ray-tracing for the intervening surface and material interactions. Algorithmically, I was really just crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s in my code, and voila! I now had a true lighting calculation tool.” Ironically, Ward’s LBNL job at the time was working with his then-supervisor Francis Rubenstein on an Electric Power Research Institute-funded project testing daylighting control algorithms for electric fixtures. “Officially, I was the research assistant responsible for collecting and analyzing data from a scale model of an office space situated on the roof of our building, and this left me with a fair amount of free time,” he explains. “It was during these loose hours that I continued my work on Radiance, adding new surface types and capabilities, and showing off the results to my superiors.”

Rubenstein was particularly enthusiastic about the software’s potential, and became even more excited when he and Ward came up with a method for computing diffuse interreflection during the spring of 1986. Offering some context here, Ward explains that ray-tracing in its original form uses a constant “ambient value” to stand in for diffuse inter-reflection, but this unfortunately makes it an incomplete lighting calculation since the ambient value is essentially a guess and the real value might be arbitrarily different. “It was only once we had demonstrated the ability to accurately simulate electric lighting in interior spaces that we applied for and got funding to cover the ‘initial development’ of Radiance.” A couple other key development decisions made in the software’s early days were based on Ward’s philosophy to incorporate as much longevity as possible into the design. Along these lines, he sought to make the software as universal as possible. “For example, if I needed a binary format for efficient storage, I would create one that was the same across all computer architectures rather

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DAYLIGHTING

than the most efficient format on each architecture,” he relates. “I wanted users to be able to move files between machines without worrying about compatibility. This also meant I had to avoid CPU-based acceleration, since that changes so radically from one generation to the next, relying instead on the C programming language.” Another early design decision that put the tool in good stead was avoiding limits to geometric complexity. “Radiance’s basic software design was robust and open-ended, i.e., memory was dynamically allocated as necessary, enabling very complex models to be rendered into images of any size.”

The Early Days Although the software was initially developed for LBNL’s internal use, the lab began getting outside requests for the software, so in 1989, Radiance was released to the public. However, its ability to simulate daylight was quite limited and it wasn’t until 1991, when Ward spent a sabbatical year in Switzerland’s Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne LESO program, that he added crucial new daylight analyses to the tool under the

direction of Professor Jean-Louis Scartezzini. “During the nine months I was there, I added efficient methods for incorporating venetian blinds and similar window shading systems, virtual light sources for mirror and prismatic elements, more accurate sampling of large windows, falsecolor visualizations and a new glare calculation facility,” says Ward. At this point, Radiance had evolved into a much more powerful tool for daylight analysis and was being distributed as C source code via LBNL’s anonymous FTP server. “This meant easier access for anyone connected to the Internet, since it didn’t involve mailing data tapes around. The more users we got, the more ideas and suggestions came back to us, so the whole project grew organically.”

IN THE NEWS

Research Seeks More Accurate Model Daylighting Metrics Recently published, “Modeling the direct sun component in buildings using matrix algebraic approaches: Methods and validation,” Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory researchers Greg Ward and Eleanor Lee teamed up with Austrian researcher David Geisler-Moroder to

34 

LAWRENCE, KS

The glass’ level of clarity met the architectural team’s design requirements for transparency and identity.

spell input data and then validate comparisons with ray-tracing simulations and field monitored data from a fall-phase method.

PROJECT DETAIL

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL HEALTH CENTER

Photos: Tom Kessler

Lawrence, Kansas

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A four-story glass “lantern” box made of Vitro Solarban glass make the learning studios and clinical skills labs inside the new University of Kansas Medical Center Health Education appear as if they are floating within the box. Helix Architecture + Design and CO Architects’ extensive glazing design features a 250-ft. long glassenclosed bridge made from ultra-transparent Solarban 72 Starphire glass passing through the center of the structure and connecting it to adjacent buildings.

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DAYLIGHTING

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Another important aspect that Ward’s group has maintained throughout the software’s development is numerical validation. In other words, Radiance is constantly independently verified against comparable lighting and daylight simulations, against CIE reference cases with published solutions, and against physical daylight measurements. “Care is taken that the accuracy of the system is not compromised by changes and new feature additions, and the reputation of Radiance is unmatched in this regard.” The program is also available free of charge, although it does come with a steep learning curve. However, once an individual becomes familiar with it, this expertise lends a real lasting value to their A&E employers.

It Takes a Community

AAMA’S STRUCTURAL SILICONE GLAZING DESIGN GUIDELINES Combining its two-sided structural glazing for skylights and structural glazing design guide into one document, American Architectural Manufacturers Assn. (AAMA) releases a new “Structural Silicone Glazing Design Guidelines” for both vertical and sloped applications. In publishing the new guide, it was AAMA’s goal to make the knowledge formerly contained in both documents more accessible. As the only type of sealant approved for structurally adhered glazing applications, it is important to properly apply structural silicone sealants. Visit www.aama.org.

CASE STUDY

Serving as an amenity space, the Skybridge offers a lounge, fitness studio, juice bar and pool. A lap pool enables residents to swim across the Skybridge and enjoy great views of the city.

Manhattan’s New Iconic Skybridge

Photos: Glas Trösch

Ward continues to actively support the software through workshops and user groups. “I get at least as many good ideas from users as I do from my own work,” he admits. “Radiance might not exist at all, and certainly not in its current form, if it weren’t for the input of a large and sophisticated—some would say demanding— community. They are amazing.”

While Ward currently spends a portion of his time as a senior member to Dolby Laboratories’ technical staff, he is also subcontracted by LBNL to develop new capabilities in Radiance and related LBNL software. So even though Ward’s continued involvement in Radiance isn’t all volunteer work, he still finds himself investing quite a bit of time supporting the software and its users. “I feel an obligation to this community and its members who have spent years to learn the system and turn it to their particular needs. If I see a question on the Radiance Discourse site or mailing list that I’m uniquely qualified to answer, I feel a sense of responsibility that comes with this long history. After all, I may be the only one who knows how to use most of the 170 tools in the Radiance toolbox, and even I don’t know the ins and outs of a few important programs I didn’t write. If I can spend 10 minutes to answer a question that might save someone hours, how can I not?”

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A striking pair of hi-rise towers recently joined the New York skyline in Manhattan’s East Side. But what’s really distinct about the 41-story and 48-story American Copper Buildings is the fact that they’re linked by a 3-story, all-glass skybridge. Designed by SHoP Architects, the team had to work within tight building footprint restrictions, which eventually led to the innovative idea of massing the two buildings together in a way that the two towers leaned into each other, and this is where the concept of the skybridge came in. Contrasting the towers’ copper-plated façades, the Skybridge is covered in metallic shimmering glass.

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DAYLIGHTING

RADIANCE PROJECTS

SIDEBAR

In Review...

 U.S. NAVAL CRUISER This Radiance model of the lower deck of a U.S. naval cruiser simulates emergency lighting and examining visibility under different conditions. Image: Greg Ward, Saba Rofchai

The model of an SFO air traffic control tower helped the FAA decide whether to change the tower’s shading devices and invest in different monitors.

 MENLO GATEWAY OFFICE COMPLEX A simulation of the interior luminous environments at the Menlo Gateway Office Complex in Menlo Park, Calif., is shown via Radiance with and without tinted glass. Daylighting models provided optimal orientations for the buildings to maximize daylight integration and thus reduce the use of electrical lighting.

Image: Greg Ward, LBNL

Image: Michael Martinez, Integral Group

 SFO AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER

In terms of where Radiance is headed, LBNL is focusing its efforts on annual daylight simulation and complex fenestration systems including shades, blinds, prismatic films and façade designs. “We have spent the past six years or so developing bidirectional scattering distribution function measurement and modeling capabilities for shading and daylight redirecting systems, and incorporating these into Radiance,” he explains. At the same time, Ward acknowledges that it’s been a huge effort and an uphill battle to get manufacturers and standards bodies to support the need for this type of characterization. It is also a costly, tedious process, often requiring expensive and specialized measurement equipment. But LBNL sees it as essential to the most effective incorporation of these devices into future building designs. “We need to be able to predict how they will affect not only light levels, but visual and thermal comfort in office spaces.” In terms of where Radiance is currently headed, LBNL is focusing its efforts on annual daylight simulation and complex fenestration systems including shades, blinds, prismatic films and façade designs. Ward relates that daylight controls are critical for museums where

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light-sensitive artwork will be on display. “This was one of the earliest applications of Radiance to daylighting, and continues to be an important research area.” In addition, HDR photography and photometry is an abiding presence at the Radiance workshops.

Moving Forward As for the future of daylighting software, Ward acknowledges that the industry is at an odd juncture where LED lighting has gotten so cheap and efficient that one can completely exclude daylight from a design and come out ahead in terms of energy use. Of course, no one is interested in windowless buildings, but the question must be asked: what is the true value of daylight in the built environment? While a good part of the answer is productivity, and this relates to circadian stimulation and the sense of space and well-being afforded by views, all these issues are difficult to quantify. That said, Ward’s prediction for the future of daylight simulation involves “models of human behavior that incorporate some kind of machine learning to enable accurate prediction of what have thus far been called purely subjective variables.”

A brief sampling of Radiance projects gives a glimpse at what the robust software can do. The well-documented New York Times building, by Renzo Piano and Assocs., Radiance was used to analyze the effects of the automated indoor roller shade on the interior’s daylight levels and quality, on glare, and on the view to the outdoors. The simulation encompassed all the features of the façade design, including the exterior array of horizontal ceramic rods intended to shade the façade and reduce glare from the bright sky. The software produced a simulation of an automated control system for deploying the indoor shades. For the Office of Environmental Policy in the White House, which featured tall windows in each subsection, the architects wanted to understand the effects that the renovation would have on light levels and how well up-lighting might work. Radiance produced accurate luminance and color prediction. Responding to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s request that Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory researchers model, in grueling detail, a SFO air traffic control tower, “This was a real test of what Radiance could do in terms of producing renderings that corresponded to what was actually visible in the real space,” explains Ward.

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LIGHTING

KEVIN WILLMORTH

| NZB: LIGHTING |

Euro Advantage: Lighting to Go European offices enjoy an inherent advantage to U.S. counterparts: portable lighting. Fixed lighting requires labor to shift luminaires to suit changing spaces; portable lighting can be moved readily by anyone. It is also closer to surfaces being illuminated, meaning it requires less energy.

Kevin Willmorth is a lighting professional who has emphasized lighting conservation for more then 30 years. He helped create Architectural SSL magazine and remains its editor. He is also the owner of Lumenique, a consultancy focused on deploying SSL products.

here are subtle differences in approach to lighting between Europe and the U.S. Possibly the greatest area of difference is in the treatment of portable lighting. Domestic design is heavily reliant on fixed architectural lighting, with minimal use of portable luminaires. While partition-mounted lighting is used, when the partitions come down, the lighting is lost—leaving occupants to the mercy of overhead fixed lighting. Occupants of leased spaces are constrained to what their employer is willing to invest in a lighting system, which is left behind when growth demands a move to larger facilities. Controls also tend to be global, excepting a few area sensor interactions. Task lighting is also generally handled as part of the FF&E budget, which rarely integrates into the lighting system. Whether included as under-cabinet lighting, partition mounted or portable desk lamps, these products are treated as an accessory to the general illumination system, not the primary source of it. While there are a few exceptions, such as the Tambient systems from Lighting Quotient, task lighting is an afterthought. Because of this, the products are usually switched manually, or controlled by a local occupancy sensor, with no other integrative function to the larger general illumination system. This makes much of what is installed as “task lighting” an inconsistent contributor to the lighted environment of occupants. In the case of open-plan multi-use spaces, portable lighting generally is absent, or included as a decorative item.

by anyone—even located to suit a specific transient need. Fixed lighting also stays when the occupant organization moves, requiring the next occupants to remodel, abandon or hire electricians to relocate. Conversely, portable lighting is moved with the furniture and reset in place where needed. In addition to portability, portable lighting is located closer to surfaces being illuminated, requiring less energy (inverse square law effect). Control of shadowing, glare on displays and directional brightness are also more controllable. Finally, recent emphasis on delivering human-optimized lighting performance—circadian light, melanopic light, Well Buildings compliance, etc.—demands greater emphasis on vertical illuminance that favors locating luminaires closer to task areas than can be achieved with ceiling lighting.

38 

 Often overlooked in the U.S., where fixed lighting

requires labor to shift luminaires to suit changing space configurations, portable lighting can be moved readily.

There is an inherent advantage to portable lighting, that is engaged in Europe, but overlooked in the U.S. market. Where fixed lighting requires labor to shift luminaires to suit changing space configurations, portable lighting can be moved readily

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11/2/18 11:31 AM

The most interesting AIA-approved courses on the internet are streaming video

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Emerging Top Daylighting Strategies In this course you will learn about the challenges within current daylight applications as the course focuses on best application practices, utilizing technological advancements with monument/architectural skylights, unit skylights and tubular daylighting devices.

Aspen Art Museum: Design and Construction of the Wood Roof Structure This case study presentation will describe the design and construction of the wood structure, including paths explored but not chosen for the final design.

NFPA 285: Assembly Test of Exterior Walls With Combustible Components This course explains NFPA 285 testing of building envelopes and materials, describes when testing is required and enumerates considerations necessary for compliance.

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The Noise Around Acoustics

Surface Applied Moisture Vapor Barriers

In this course we'll explore the changing world of acoustics. Growing evidence shows that adequate acoustics can have positive, rippling effects on occupants.

Participants will receive a brief explanation of the purpose of moisture vapor barriers and a description of the various types, followed by an in-depth discussion of surface applied moisture vapor barriers.

Suspended Wood Ceilings: Design to Delivery This course covers the benefits of suspended wood ceilings; materials including wood options such as veneers, solid or reclaimed wood, sustainability attributes and performance.

To view these high-quality courses and browse the full catalog, visit us today at TheContinuingArchitect.com. Courses play on all desktop and mobile devices. Enroll and take courses for free. TheContinuingArchitect.com

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LIGHTING

LIGHT TO GO With its 3-layer micropyramidal optic (MPO+), the LIGHT FIELDS evolution freestanding luminaire ensures flexibility while delivering glare control with a radiant quality of light. Light control is based on light guiding technology. Standard features include “sensControl” occupancy and brightness control. Optional is “swarmControl” technology, which allows luminaires to communicate to consistently provide an optimal quantity of light. Zumtobel www.zumtobel.com CIRCLE 296

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In the European market, a new breed of portable lighting products has emerged that integrate controls sophistication and optics in a way that elevates portable lighting to primary source of general illumination. The products not only react to the presence of occupants and natural light availability, and user control, they now operating as intelligently connected groups that cause populations of portable products to act as one, creating a uniform cloud of general illumination. European manufacturers Waldmann and Zumtobel illustrate how a European approach to portable lighting can be equally adaptable and advantageous in the domestic market. Both manufacturers offer free-standing and companion work-surface-mounted products that can be controlled beyond the normal fixture-mounted switching or simple individual occupancy/light response sensor. In addition, individual luminaires communicate with assigned surrounding luminaires as a group or “swarm.” This eliminates the local light-island effect that occurs when

SNAP IN Mounting of the luminaires proved to be quick and simple thanks to snap-fi t clips. A total of 290 LED luminaires were ultimately installed on three levels within the façade that covers eight fl oors.

CASE STUDY

SPG HEADQUARTERS Geneva, Switzerland

As part of a major renovation, a “second skin” of light was added to the property company’s building thanks to almost 2,900 vertically aligned and illuminated glass fins. The new skin was added by Giovanni Vaccarini Architects after they upgraded the envelope. The outer glazing is screen-printed with grids of squares that reduce glare and create a type of “haze” that lends the building a blurred quality. At night, the fins really “blur” in this case, thanks to specially developed LED luminaires from ERCO. The latter are mounted in the gap between the fins with a width of only 45mm in some places.

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luminaires are controlled independently. Further, with programming, these portable products can also function as egress lighting when spaces are unoccupied—dimmed to the minimum required level—like any other building-mounted product. This is accomplished using wireless Enocean or Bluetooth connectivity, administered with software using a tablet, Windows computer or other smart device. The result is the integration of stand and task surface luminaires as an integral part of the general illumination scheme—not an accessory within it—that can be changed as needs of occupants or space plans change.

PERSONAL CHOICE The PARA.MI task light allows elements and colors to be combined to suit any décor or preference. Head styles, arm configurations and mounting options vary to user choice. It can also be mounted directly onto a furniture system. Available in CCTs of 3000K or 4000K, they only consume 8 W. Waldmann www.waldmann.com CIRCLE 295

LIT GLASS FINS A spot beam provides narrow grazing that laterally impacts onto the fins so the “nocturnal signature” is all that is seen, according to lighting designers Simon Simos.

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11/1/18 4:36 PM

LIGHTING

BEND ME, SHAPE ME

The Pipeline 1 Suspension Rotatable Modular System offers sleek tubes of diffused LED light and a series of connectors that allow pieces to be easily fit together to create desired look.

Channels can be run along an exposed ceiling, and even turn corners or climb walls, thanks to flexible connectors. Length options vary 3 in. to 10 ft., with a low-profile 1.25-in. diameter channel. The fixtures are adjustable and channel rotatable for direct or indirect 360-degree lighting with a beam spread of 176 degrees.

BEAM CONTROL

Shape Up Fitted with an optical system that can dynamically vary the beam opening angle in a luminaire from a gradual manner to a more concentrated SPOTtype emission (around 10 degrees), to a wide flood around 50 degrees,

FASHIONABLE Pipeline 1 comes in four finishesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;satin nickel, black or white powdered paint, and chrome.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, IT IS POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DESIGNERS WITH AN ELECTRONIC BEAM CONTROL SYSTEM THAT IS DYNAMIC AND PRECISE.

PORTABLE AND FREE-STANDING LAVIGO is a portable system of free-standing and task-mounted luminaires that provides separate direct and indirect control, integrated occupancy and light sensor control, and wireless communications control features that allow luminaires to act in groups, or be addressed and controlled externally. Waldmann www.waldmann.com CIRCLE 294

In addition to the inclusion of controls, these products also incorporate optical control to produce soft uniform direct and indirect illumination (separately addressable) to provide comfortable lighting that is also efficient. The combined effect of local lighting control, group response, remote software control, optical design and portability, is a significantly more desirable lighted environment well suited to working environments, regardless of national origin.

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Targettiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dynamic Beam Shaping-enabled fixtures are based on the use of liquid crystal lenses that make it possible to vary the beam without using any mechanical or mobile parts by using an IOT control system. Each fixture is controlled using a Casambi application that makes it possible to wirelessly dim the source, set the desired beam opening, create dynamic scenes or change the color temperature. Targetti www.targetiusa.net CIRCLE 293

BONA FIDE The minimal design makes it compatible with a variety of furniture systems. It is Cradle-to-Cradle certified.

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WATER

JOHN MESENBRINK

| NZB: WATER |

When the Rubber Meets the River Thought leaders from across the globe convened in Germany for the inaugural BIGGEXCHANGE event, which delved into sustainable cities and building operations, as well as the future of construction, including automation and robotics’ role in streamlining the process.

John Mesenbrink has been covering the building and construction industry for more than 15 years, focusing his efforts on the plumbing and HVAC industries—including the launch of his website, which focuses on the installation side of mechanical systems.

amed in part for the river that runs through the host city of Attendorn, Germany, the recent BIGGEXCHANGE was an international forum of thought leaders discussing the future of construction, sustainable cities and the health of buildings. In fact, the event’s major sponsor, piping manufacturer Aquatherm, set the stage with a tour of its headquarters and nearby plant to exemplify sustainable processes in its own manufacturing.

His “urban metabolism” analogy likened buildings to our own bodies, with a positive or negative impact based on what is “ingested.” Pointing out the concept of effective circularity, as in the piping plant’s use of water, Hoballah noted population growth does not have to be a problem. “Increasing consumption and a wasteful society are the problems.” Like Aquatherm, decoupling in manufacturing by reducing material intensity in the production of products, is a sure path.

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Part of the process cooling for the company’s extrusion plant involves water and stable underground temperatures pulled from the Bigge River. The water—121,519,144 gallons per year, to be exact— returned to the river at a temperature no more than 23 degrees C or 73.4 degrees F. The return water, in fact, is run through three loops, which run through heat exchangers for process cooling and heating and DHW heat recovery. This demonstration of a more sustainable use of water dove-tailed well with the speech of the conference’s highlighted speakers, Arab Hoballah, leader of SWITCH-ASIA SCP. The entity’s senior sustainability expert opened his “Climate Change & Resource Efficiency—the Sustainable Building Engine” presentation with his concern for the children and grandchildren on this planet, as a result of climate change, in large part, caused by inefficient buildings. According to the World Bank, 9.7 billion people will populate the planet, and 6.4 billion of them will be living in urban centers. Currently, commercial buildings consume 40% of global energy, 25% of global water while producing 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. “Yet there must be optimism as to what can be managed with transformative change,” says Hoballah. “Mitigating climate change starts with buildings.”

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www.nzbmagazine.com

11/1/18 4:43 PM

BIM Plug-In for Revit

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WATER

 CLOSED LOOP Water, 121,519,144 gallons per year, pulled from the Bigge River for Aquatherm’s extrusion processes, is run through three loops, which run through heat exchangers for process cooling and heating and DHW heat recovery.

CASE STUDY

KAILUA REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT Honolulu, Hawaii

Hawaii’s largest ever wastewater system recently completed a significant upgrade. Following an EPA Consent Decree to improve Windward Oahu’s sewage collection and treatment system by June 2018, Brown and Caldwell, a leading environmental engineering and construction firm, worked with the city and county of Honolulu to deliver the project, which involved connecting the pre-treatment facility to the regional wastewater treatment plant via a three-mile long gravity sewer tunnel, increasing the region’s wastewater conveyance and storage capacity while reducing overflows. The tunnel conveys wastewater by gravity flow, sloping from a depth of 39 ft. below ground level at the pre-treatment plant toward the treatment plant, ending at 77 ft. below ground level.

HOT WATER EFFICIENCY Common vent capable and up to 98% efficiency, the Cyclone Mxi features a modulating burner that adjusts firing rate to increase efficiency. The helical heat exchanger lengthens the heat transfer cycle and offers a easy-to-read intelligent control system. Kits available in both PVC and polypropylene. A.O. Smith www.hotwater.com CIRCLE 292

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SLOW YOUR ENERGY ROLL A significant benefit of the project is reduced energy consumption paired with improved environmental protection. Wastewater conveyance via the tunnel occurs through gravity flow rather than pressure, eliminating three upstream pump stations and a three-mile long force main, all overflow points.

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Elsewhere, the event’s organizer, Dirk Rosenberg, urged for greater integration between all parties. “If we don’t start communicating and building stronger alliances, we will never turn the construction industry into something more positive.” Usually, says Rosenberg, trade disciplines act independently of each other, yet they are working on the same product, which is the building. “Bring people together and start communicating—architects, designers, engineers, contractors, distributors—to form a strong alliance to become successful.” Another major speaker, Matthias Horx of Zukunftsinstitut GmbH, a think tank to further develop prognostic techniques whose resulting knowledge and potential could be used both in the fields of business and politics, addressed the sometimes-scary rapid advance of technology, including AI, and robotics’ possible impact on jobs. “Is it true that 50% of jobs will disappear? Posed Horx. He doesn’t think so. “The future of the construction industry, in an age of digitization, still longs for interpersonal contact, and while trivial tasks may disappear, there will be a boom for human and interpersonal activity,” says Horx, “Jobs in the future won’t be replaced, they will evolve,” added fellow speaker Stephen Butler of Autodesk, who noted that by the year 2020, the robotics industry will have created 240,000 jobs. Robotics, argued Dr. Ing. Alexander Rieck of Fraunhofer IAO and LAVA, will help resolve the

HONOLULU, HAWAII

lack of skilled tradespeople in the industry. Digitization, he added, will help companies become faster, better and cheaper. “We cannot justify higher salaries to attract skilled labor without digital tools,” says Rieck, Such a digital revolution will lead to more creative architecture with a focus on urbanization and sustainability. According to Professor David Chua Kim Huat of the National University of Singapore, floating on the tide of reduced construction times, combined with higher profitability via BIM-based prefabrication, will make all boats rise. BIGGEXHCANGE concluded with a roundtable addressing the future of construction as a whole. “The only constant today is people, and we will continue to make the same mistakes if we don’t change,” said professor Brian Cody, TU Graz. Laws and regulations, he added, must specifically change. “My whole life has been going around laws to build green buildings.” Jurgen Hahnrath, Cisco Systems GmbH, added all parties must stay curious, be well informed and not afraid of change. Hoballah concluded the thought, adding the more we know, the more we move forward. “Behind the curtain there is light. We can do it.”

www.nzbmagazine.com

11/1/18 4:44 PM

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Dri-Design

Our “Best Practices” issue, the March installment of Net Zero Buildings will be case study-intensive, as we put a focus on Passive House-caliber envelopes, PV and microgrids, graywater applications, daylighting lessons learned from post-occupancy study, and HVAC control strategies that actually work. On the project front itself, we’ll zoom in on 363,000-sq.-ft. SUNY Polytechnic Institute College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering facility in Albany, otherwise known as the “ZEN.” The project is considered the largest net zero energy-capable, mixed-use building in the country, and was achieved with close-knit building team integration.

IBC

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Guardian Glass

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Kalwall

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Kingspan

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LP Building Products

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Mitsubishi Electric

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NewBrick

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The Continuing Architect (TCA)

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Vitro Architectural Glass

www.vitroglazings.com

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| END POINT |

JOHN MESENBRINK

Comfort Matters “We must encourage physicians to partner with architects and engineers to optimize indoor air management for the benefit of out most basic asset--our health.”

The vocabulary of “comfort” is far more accessible to society than the vocabulary of energy efficiency.

—Dr. Stephanie Taylor M.D., M. Arch.

This thought was certainly backed by Robert Bean, R.E.T, P.L (Eng.)., president, Indoor Climate Consultants, who in addressing attendees of Uponor’s 2018 Engineering Summit, recited Taylor’s message in his presentation, “What Should Be Driving the Sustainability Message— IEQ or Energy?” The latter, he echoed, should not compromise comfort. “If we design for people, good buildings will follow,” said Bean. In expounding on indoor environmental quality, he noted conventional energy efficiency programs ignore the fact that energy consumed in buildings is intended to create better condi-

tions for people, as most, he said, seem to be focused exclusively on envelopes and equipment, and only superficial IEQ aspects. But if it is the former, and not the latter, “One would think that all design ought to begin with the physiological and psychological needs of the occupants,” said Bean. Next to acoustical issues, thermal discomfort is the secondleading occupant complaint. The culprits, according to Bean, are poor building codes and enclosure designs, followed by poor HVAC solutions. “Heat loss and heat gain calculations are not thermal comfort calculations; HVAC design by itself is not thermal comfort design,” said Bean. There are a number of factors that contribute to thermal comfort; humidity control is one of them—in particular, controlling relative humidity between 35%-55% to manage hydrolysis—VOC emissions—to better control microbials, which enable comfort in

mucous membranes— humidity influences perceptions of thermal comfort and IAQ, and controlling it prevents condensation in and on building materials. Quoting Dr. Charlie Weschler, Bean emphasized, “We can design zero-energy buildings, but we can’t design zero-emitting occupants” Citing sources from the Rocky Mountain Institute and Autodesk, respectively, Bean said that the traditional air temperature-centric approach in buildings is ineffective, inefficient and expensive, as mean radiant temperature is the single most important parameter in human thermal comfort. Restated from Adams and Kidd, “Energy efficiency should not be the exclusive goal, but rather the outcome from achieving the

desired indoor climate,” said Bean. That’s the problem: “We have an entire industry pushing energy efficiency down everyone’s throat,” said Bean. Conservation of energy “quantity” does not equal conservation of energy “quality.” As Bean points out, let’s not forget the No. 1 cost in any building operation is people. Occupant comfort, therefore, must be an integral component of the design process. Thermal comfort, solved first through better envelope design and optimized HVAC systems, translates into a global solution that addresses all issues, not just energy.

John Mesenbrink Contributing Editor jmesenbrink@cbmedia.us.com

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11/1/18 2:01 PM

INNOVATIVE UNCOMPROMISING FACADES

Dri-Design Metal Wall Panels are manufactured from single-skin metal, making them a non-combustible component of any wall assembly. Furthermore, Dri-Design has been tested at UL, as part of a complete assembly, and is NFPA-285 compliant. Although fire is always a concern, it is especially important in high-rise building applications, such as the Aloft/Element Hotel, in downtown Austin, Texas. The 32 story hotel also employed a unitized building technique, allowing the project to be completed on a confined lot, in less time than conventional building techniques.

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Capture clarity. Fit the bill—and the build—with new Acuity™ Low-Iron Glass. Elevate aesthetics for a modest investment, without sacrificing performance. New Acuity™ Glass by Vitro Architectural Glass (formerly PPG Glass) is an affordable low-iron solution available with Solarban® solar control low-e coatings, offering vivid views with no green cast. Where conventional clear glass was once a given, pure clarity is now within reach. Request samples and learn more at vitroglazings.com/acuity

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