June 2011

project of the month
Ivy Tech Fall Creek

The Ivy Tech Community College - Fall Creek Campus building is taking shape. Construction is due to be substantially complete in late November 2011. This landmark project involves reuse and restoration of portions of the old St. Vincent's Hospital originally constructed in 1911. The building square footage will total just over 200,000 when completed, 64,000 of which will be renovated. 


Many sustainable design features contribute to the LEED Silver certification the project is seeking. The majority of the points achieved can be attributed to the building reuse and the great location of the project. But, perhaps the most sustainable feature for the project will be the use of a Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) mechanical system which is much more efficient than a conventional 4-pipe HVAC system. The project has been designed to exceed the standards set in ASHRAE 90.1-2007 by more than 15%.


This is the first phase of Ivy Tech's Indianapolis campus master plan. We are looking forward to this project completing construction and becoming a high-performance model for future campus projects and for the city.


news
Battle of the Buildings Update
Over the last month, Schmidt Associates has been participating in EPA's National Building Competition to help improve the energy efficiency. Our initial goal for reduction was 20%. Our plan to achieve this consists of behavioral changes and facility improvements. We were very surprised and excited to see that we were able to nearly reach our goal just with behavioral changes in the office. See the charts below (the purple lines are our goal and the green lines are our results): 

What types of behavioral changes, you ask? Well, we simply became more diligent about turning off computers, display screens, and lights when not in use. Several energy monitors were hand picked throughout the office to make sure people in their areas were turning things off. Arguably the number one thing that has helped us achieve these savings is that we are measuring our results and communicating them to everyone so that everyone can be involved in the progress and see the results of their efforts. 
The next steps will be to make facility improvements: motion sensors for fans, reducing the number of light fixtures in the building, and replacing some inefficient HVAC equipment. We are encouraged by the difference made so far, and would like to commend the staff at Schmidt Associates for making us a true competitor in the Battle of the Buildings.


UnderSTANding LEED:
This is the first article of a new series to be featured in the Sustainable Stan Journal. The intent of this series is to educate the readers on specific aspects of LEED projects.
How Design Charrettes benefit the process
by Steve Schaecher, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, CDT
Definition:
The word charrette here refers to an intense collaborative session (or sessions) involving designers and stakeholders to draft a solution to a design problem. The term originates from the the French word for "cart" or "chariot". It is believed that the term was adapted to it's current definition through the practice of student architects of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (a famous classical architecture program) who would work furiously to the last minute before a presentation, even while travelling in the school cart (en charrette). 
The Players
For the Design Charrette to be most beneficial, it is important to have all involved parties represented. This includes; the Owner, the Users, the Designers (Architect(s), Engineers, Interior Designers  Special Consultants), and the Contractor. This allows an integrated design approach that will take into account all points of view and help to synergize design ideas. 
Timing
Charrettes are most successful when they occur at the beginning of the design process, before any design ideas have started to take shape. This allows each participant in the charrette an opportunity to influence the design and help guide the direction. Having all of the Stakeholders in the project together at the beginning of the process allows each of them to have Ownership in the design instead of inheriting someone else's thoughts after the fact.

The Design Charrette Meeting
As mentioned above, the charrette is an intense, throw your ideas on a board type meeting that can last a day or more. As with any meeting, it is important to establish clear goals at the beginning of the charrette. Examples of some goals may be; clear identity for the project, clear circulation paths, or sleek image. Sustainability goals should also be included in this list. Building performance can best be influenced by addressing it before it has developed. These goals will then begin to inform the players' discussion and decisions about how to best solve the project goals. The goals of the project need to be maintained and revisited throughout the design process, so that everyone will keep them in sight as more detail is added.
Design Charrettes can be structured in many different ways. They can be large community meetings that split into smaller groups to come up with design alternatives. They are typically working sessions though where everyone is encouraged to participate and provide input. 
Incorporating sustainable design goals into this flurry of activity at the beginning of the project allows the disciplines to work with each other for added benefits.  
A True Charrette Example (from betterbricks.com)
An Owner wanted to maximize natural lighting and contain costs in a new office building. The architect proposed using high-performance glazing for the windows to control heat loss. The electrical engineer suggested using fluorescent lamps with light sensors to dim the electric lights  in proportion to available natural light and then proceeded to calculate the annual savings. The contractor indicated that sensors for the lights would substantially increase the project budget. In response, the mechanical engineer suggested smaller mechanical units because the building would be in a cooling mode most of the year and the electric light fixtures would be a source of heat. Quickly calculating the cost of the smaller mechanical units, the contractor determined that this integrated solution would reduce total project cost. Furthermore, the electric utility representative offered substantial rebates for the high-performance glass, energy-efficient light fixtures and daylight sensors. The Owner was delighted with this collaborative problem solving.  The result was a high-performance building for less cost, annual energy savings, and naturally lit interior spaces for the building's users.


The Stan Journal is now available for mobile devices If you find yourself wanting to read Stan in every environment you visit, you can now easily do that. Stan is now available in mobile device format. Easy to read wherever you are.

events

• Energy Fair - coming soon (to coincide with Building Competition)
• Carpool to work/Mass Transit Day - coming soon

opinion
It really does seem that the best way for improvements to occur is to start measuring results. Look at LEED in particular, green buildings existed before LEED and are being done outside of LEED. But before LEED was introduced nobody was sure they were talking about the same thing, or if they were being successful at integrating green design. The same can be said about our energy usage. Sure, we could monitor the bills and see fluctuations here and there. But once we started graphing the energy use, and letting the people who could influence the results know how they were doing, improvement was evident. 
The next step is to help Owners implement the same types of reports. We are already doing this for some of our clients. It will not be long before this becomes standard, much like the gauges we have in cars. The information is there, it's just a matter of making it easy to comprehend. As I am sure you know, as a society we have information overload. We need to be able to sift through the clutter of the information and make it easy to read quickly. Because time is most valuable.
Stay Green,