Cyclone Energy Group teamed up with Ivanhoe Cambridge and Hines to envision a net zero operational carbon future for twin commercial high rises in Chicago built in the1960s. The nine-month investigation included multiple site visits, the creation of a calibration model, the testing of over 50 environmental conservation measures, and ultimately one recommended roadmap to net zero. This seminar focuses on (1) introduction, (2) energy model calibration, and (3) data visualization. In the introduction, one presenter will relay the goals of the project, how the team translated those goals into actionable steps over the course of a year, and what the contributing factors were that led to the ultimate recommendations of the team. In part two, another presenter will discuss how the team leveraged the existing relationship with the building property managers to obtain accurate drawings and collect missing data from the site. Additionally, he will demonstrate how he crafted a detailed calibrated energy model and tested it against fifty potential upgrade options spanning from mechanical plant level equipment swap outs to lighting power density reductions. Lastly, a third presenter will share the road-mapping strategy and data backbone to create a robust decision making process that relies heavily on data visualization and combination of public and project-specific data.

The General Services Administration recently set out to demonstrate just how feasible building decarbonization can be with the renovation of Building 48 on the Denver Federal Center Campus. This building was an existing World War II ammunitions facility, turned into a warehouse, and eventually neglected until the GSA decided to revitalize it into a sustainability-focused, low carbon office building. Through careful planning and a highly integrative design process, the final project went beyond the goal of meeting LEED v4 Gold certification to being a poster child for how an existing building can be reused to achieve massive reductions in embodied carbon while also operating with net zero operational carbon.

This presentation will discuss the unique design challenges an all-electric building presents to the designer, especially in conjunction with maintaining an existing structure to reduce embodied carbon. We will highlight the coordination between design disciplines required to simultaneously achieve competing goals, and present solutions that other projects can use to make deep decarbonization a reality in their buildings.

The City of Breckenridge’s Alta Verde Phase I & II project are a 250-unit workforce housing development spread across seven buildings. The project will provide housing for people whose income falls within 30% to 60% of the median income for the area. Gorman & Co. in partnership with the town of Breckenridge is the developer and is pursuing the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Zero Energy Certification with 100% of its energy produced on-site.

This lighting talk will focus on the lessons learned and key takeaways of designing a Net Zero building that provides workforce housing in Climate Zone 7. These include cost optimization between energy efficiency measures and the PV array, HVAC system limitations due to snow depth, passive house efficiency measures, and post-occupancy calibration. Finally, the differences in design direction and why they occurred in Phase I vs Phase II will be discussed.