100% outside air intake Air handler uses heat recovery on exhaust air to temper incoming ventilation air Oxbow skylight Smoke evacuation Natural convection exhaust Atrium skylight Phase change material thermal storage tank for efficient conditioning SYSTEMS INTEGRATION SYSTEMS systems integration INTEGRATION 27 28 High performance glazing Reclaimed wood structure and finish materials In designing building systems, we take nature as our model. Nature wastes nothing. It is replete with symbiotic relationships in which waste from one organism becomes resource for another. This approach to design requires that we simulate energy, water and waste flows as aspects of a single interrelated system. Orientation specific solar shades To meet this challenge we utilize advanced system simulation software that provides us with almost unlimited flexibility to model and validate the performance of any combination of energy, water and waste system technologies. Rainwater harvesting Structural steel piles with integral hydronic loops for efficient conditioning Perimeter hydronic radiant heating Conditioned air delivered underfloor Underfloor air for ventilation and cooling Chilled sails hydronic radiant cooling FEDERAL CENTER SOUTH Systems Integration Diagram ZGF Architects, LLP
ARCHITECTURAL INTEGRATION Involvement during the formative stages of design allows Built Ecology to work with the architect to meld form with environmental function. This approach enables the architecture to become an integral part of the environmental control system. Water + waste To optimize water systems, we analyze opportunities to not only conserve water, but also to capture, treat and reuse this resource on-site. Our analysis starts early in the design process as we look for opportunities to integrate ecological water management into the design of rain, storm and wastewater systems. We work closely with civil engineers, landscape architects and WSP s plumbing engineers to develop holistic water and waste strategies. This integration creates opportunities for water resource savings that might otherwise be overlooked. 29 30 The Wendouree Center auditorium uses 100% outside air Passive downdraft ventilation and conditioning system diagram An elegant example of this approach is the Wendouree Center for Performing Arts in Melbourne, Australia. The 100% outdoor air system uses an evaporative shower tower to adiabatically cool the intake air, which travels through a thermal labyrinth underneath the theater seating. Thermal buoyancy, generated by heat from the audience, coupled with solar assistance, induces the conditioned air to rise up through the seating and out through passive exhausts. The system provides comfortable conditions year-round without the use of fans or mechanical cooling. Heat from the sun creates buoyancy effect + drives natural ventilation Fluid cooler Roof Drains Wind creates negative pressure to drive ventilation Toilets Warm air from occupants rises naturally 100% Outside air Irrigation Thermal labyrinth Store Toilets Passage Cistern Orchestra pit receives fresh air Outside air cooled naturally by labyrinth thermal mass Outside air cooled by shower towers Wendouree Center for Performing Arts Photography www.visitballarat.com.au Diagram WSP, Built Ecology Images ZGF Architects, LLP federal center south
CASE STUDY 01: FEDERAL CENTER SOUTH SEATTLE, WASHINGTON Client: GSA & U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Architect: ZGF Architects, LLP MEP: WSP Project Size: 200,000 ft² Completion Date: 2012 Awards + Certifications: AIA COTE Top Ten Green Projects Awards 2013 Winner Design-Build Institute of America, National Design-Build Awards, Office Buildings Winner IIDA Northern Pacific Chapter, INawards, Sustainability Winner ENR Northwest, Best Projects, Government/Public Building Winner LEED Gold 31 32 The U.S. General Services Administration Federal Center South Building 1202 is the new regional headquarters for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Northwest District. The 200,000 square foot building was designed in accordance with the GSA s Design Excellence program and delivered by a design-build team led by ZGF Architects and Sellen Construction. The building is a model of integrated design, fusing both passive and active environmental control strategies in innovative new ways. The building is strategically oriented for optimal solar control and benefits from an ultra-efficient envelope with high levels of insulation. The unique ox-bow form minimizes external surface area, thereby reducing heat loss, while the central atria delivers ample daylight to the building s interior. The embodied energy content of the facility is also substantially reduced through the use of reclaimed wood in the dramatic central atrium. 1 FEDERAL CENTER SOUTH Photography Benjamin Benschneider
The cut-away section below shows the integration of the building s passive and active environmental control features. The facility is heated and cooled via reversible heat pumps that exchange thermal energy with foundation integrated energy piles. The HVAC delivery system includes a 100% outdoor air ventilation supply, passive chilled sails, buoyancydriven return airflow through the atrium and ventilation heat recovery. 33 34 100 106 EUI ABOVE LEFT: The building features external solar shading tuned by orientation and an internal commons area made of wood reclaimed from a warehouse that previously occupied the site. 75 ABOVE RIGHT: An innovative phase change material thermal storage tank is used to capture afternoon cooling heat rejection energy, which is used the following day to provide free morning warm-up. 50 25 27.6 EUI 20.3 EUI EUI - kbtu/sf/year 0 TYPICAL OFFICE BUILDING CBECS regional average REQUIRED PERFORMANCE FINAL DESIGN PREDICTED PERFORMANCE The design-build team was contractually obligated to deliver a building with a 74% reduction in energy use compared with a typical office building. Plug Loads Lighting Domestic Hot Water Pumps Cooling Heating FEDERAL CENTER SOUTH Photography Benjamin Benschneider (Upper Left) Photography WSP, Built Ecology (Upper Right) Illustration ZGF Architects, LLP (Opposite Page)
CASE STUDY 02: DE ANZA COLLEGE MEDIA + LEARNING CENTER CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Client: De Anza Community College Architect: Ratcliff Architects MEP: WSP Project Size: 60,000 ft² Awards: + Certifications: AIA SF Citation Award, Energy + Sustainability LEED Platinum ENR Best Projects of 2013, Award of Merit, Green Project (Northern California) Completion Date: 2012 35 36 The Media and Learning Center is a new educational facility at De Anza Community College in Cupertino, California. The facility provides flexible, general purpose classrooms and labs for instructional space, with academic capacity for anthropology, sociology and world languages. The building also houses offices for distance learning, staff and organizational development, and a broadcast media film and television studio. The design of the building form, orientation and façade were informed through dynamic thermal modeling to maximize potential for passive solar heating, daylight access and views while managing the impacts of direct sun. A passive downdraft, buoyancy-driven ventilation system provides low energy and silent heating, cooling and 100% outside air ventilation to the classrooms and offices. Roof-mounted solar-thermal collectors meet 40% of the building s annual heating and hot water demands, while a photovoltaic array generates 25% of the annual power consumption. Photography David Wakely DE ANZA COLLEGE MEDIA + LEARNING CENTER
At the top of the shafts, outside air is brought in through louvers that are controlled to account for wind direction. The air passes across a cooling coil to create a buoyancy effect that drives the air down the shafts. 37 38 From the shaft, the fresh air is delivered to an underfloor plenum where it enters the classrooms through floor diffusers. If heating is required, heating coils will heat the air as it enters the underfloor plenum. Air is exhausted from the classrooms to the atrium, where it leaves the building through automated clerestory windows. The image above demonstrates the operating principle of passive downdraft ventilation. During summer, air enters the top of the intake shafts where it is cooled and begins to descend under its own weight. It then transfers into raised access floors before being supplied up into the classroom spaces. As the air picks up heat from people, computers and solar gain, it becomes more buoyant, rises to high level and transfers into the central atrium space where it is exhausted out of the building via clerestory vents. DE ANZA COLLEGE MEDIA + LEARNING CENTER Renderings Ratcliff Architects Rendering Ratcliff Architects (Opposite Page) Photography David Wakely (Opposite Page)