David
I just read an article out of the January 2010 edition of Architectural Record about a net zero energy office complex located in Colorado. A net zero energy building generates as much or more energy than it uses in a year. Basically this means that if every new building was a net zero energy building, we would never require a new power plant. All energy required by a new building would already be generated by that new building, or the site it is built on.
The most amazing thing about this specific building, to me, is that it was built for $259 per square foot. The average for the area it was built in is $167 per square foot. So this means that for only $92 more per square foot they were able to make an ordinary office complex into an extraordinary one. Yes, this is more than the average, but for this building, construction costs were fixed from the beginning.
Amazingly, they were able to provide the client with a building that worked as an office complex and performed as a net zero energy building. No other architect’s submission offered a net zero building. Why not? They were able to achieve the design goals of an office complex, provide a net zero energy building, and do it all under budget.
I’m not saying that all buildings should be net zero energy buildings, but the ones that can, the ones that do have a higher budget, should. This was a building for the Research Support Facility of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, making it highly efficient had to be the goal of all of the architecture firms, but why couldn’t the others provide them with a net zero energy building?
It is because of the highly coordinated efforts of RNL architecture firm and Haselden Construction. They had to make sure that everything worked perfectly, which is another point that I would like to make this week, nothing can equal well done and coordinated architecture and construction.
We need to demand higher quality work. Most buildings could perform well, but it isn’t demanded of them. The only thing demanded from each building is how fast it can be put up. This results in insulation that is badly installed and hvac systems that are leaky and inefficient.
The companies that designed and built the office complex had performance and energy goals in their contracts that would allow them to receive millions of dollars in incentives if their goals were met. You can keep the incentives for speed, but please add incentives for performance like they did with this building.
It costs a lot less if contractors are trying to make things energy efficient from the start than if you have to go back and make things efficient. When they have to go back to make something work better, or add something, it takes time to crawl into the spaces that need fixing. They also need to think about not harming the finished house, which takes a lot of blankets, tarps, and cleaning up each day.
We can repair all of the buildings in the world, but if we don’t start requiring contractors, architects, and developers to build buildings that are energy efficient and perform, then we will never solve the real problem. The good thing is that there are some companies, like Eco Performance Builders, that already require these things of themselves.
Past Blog Entries:
https://www.ecoperformancebuilders.com/eco-news/cost-effective-ways-of-saving-energy/
Future Blog Entries:
Smart Meters
Hydronic Vs. Furnace
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