October 2011

project of the month
Ivy Tech Corporate College and Conference Center

Ivy Tech Corporate College and Conference Center exterior view

The old Stouffer's Hotel on the northside of Indianapolis is being renovated to become the new Ivy Tech Corporate College and Conference Center. This facility is famous for lodging Elvis Presley during his last public concert in the 1977. The facility is 196,000 square feet, with 13 floors plus a penthouse space. It's last use was residential units for a private institute. The renovations to the facility will reconfigure the hotel into offices and classrooms that meet Ivy Tech's statewide standards.  The proximity of the Stouffer's Hotel to the rest of the primary Indianapolis campus made it a natural location for Ivy Tech to expand.  Although restricted by the existing buildings configuration (including 8'-8" floor-to-floor heights), reusing an existing building helped Ivy Tech keep their costs down. A new facility housing the same functions would have escalated the cost of the project and may not have been able to be located at this site. 

Lobby space

Although this project is not seeking LEED certification, many sustainable design features are incorporated.  The existing mechanical system is being removed and replaced by a mixture of different high-efficiency systems, including a chilled-beam valance system.  Heat recovery is employed with the systems as well.  The exterior envelope will also be improved as part of the project - a new thermally broken aluminum curtainwall system with high-efficiency glazing will be replace the original 1960's windows and insulation will be added to the exterior walls.


The project was designed to house a Culinary program consisting of up to 11 kitchens.  These kitchens will all utilize high-efficiency equipment, and it is expected that most of the food will taste good too. 


Although it is not as flashy as other facilities on campus, this building exhibits many of the key philosophies that has allowed Ivy Tech to excel and contribute to a sustainable environment.



news
Battle of the Buildings Update
This will be the last update for the Battle of the Buildings competition. Energy Star will be announcing the winner(s) on November 1.  Last month was another good month for Schmidt Associates. 

The office expended 15.73% less energy than last year in September. It is expected that the energy efficiency will continue to increase with the replacement of a 15-year old rooftop mechanical unit and controls that occurred at the beginning of this month and is still being fine tuned.

Crane arrives to hoist new mechanical unit onto roof (10/6/2011)

Also, the old single-pane windows in the historic Wil-Fra-Mar building portion of the office will be replaced this next month, improving the thermal envelope of the facility, and hopefully making a significant difference to the heating bills and the comfort of the Schmidt workers.


USGBC education provider
Whether you are a LEED AP+ or not, you no doubt are aware of continuing education courses being offered everywhere. Many of these courses have some sort of fee associated with them, and may or may not hit the subject matter you need. Schmidt Associates has become a Tier-1 GBCI education provider to provide courses that are applicable to their projects and staff. Throughout the year, Schmidt Associates will offer 10 pre-approved classes that will achieve 1 credit each for LEED APs' CMP (Credential Maintenance Program).  Schmidt Associates has already held three classes this year and they were all well-received.  It is expected that these classes will be recorded in the future so that they may be accessed at any time.


events

• Energy Fair - November 8, 11:00 - 1:30Schmidt Associates will be hosting its first Energy Fair on November 8. Activities for the event will be as follows:
• "Silver Buckshot" Presentation by Vince Griffin, Indiana Chamber of Commerce, focusing on Indiana's current dependence on coal and need for renewable resources
• Presentation by Dan Schmidt, Schmidt Associates, focusing on the impact of renewable resources.
• Booths from the following:

• Indianapolis Power and Light (IPL)
• Keep Indianapolis Beautiful (KIB)
• CM Buck - LED light fixtures
• Nusun - photovoltaic panels
• Johnson-Melloh Solutions
• Schmidt Associates - focusing on the National Building Competition
• Maybe some others
• Carpool to work/Mass Transit Day - coming soon

opinion

It's hard to not be overwhelmed with the buzz of green products and technologies. Everything that was done in the past is being challenged and improved. New codes are being drafted to mandate building performance. Manufacturers are developing new products at an alarming speed to deliver the high-performance that designers are looking for. The Internet has had a large role in this revolution. It is very easy to find examples of product installations and systems that shift  the paradigm with a few mouse clicks. This ease of discovery has also brought about new expectations from Owners. 

However, there is also a lot of misinformation out there too. People's opinions or blog comments are mistaken for fact or tend to muddy the water on best practices.  This is why it is so important to put in place metrics that can measure the performance of projects. These will best serve the project goals, and be allow it to me measured for years after it is put into service. As things continue to become more restrictive and performance driven, it is necessary to have tools in place that "prove it", that designs are meeting and exceeding expectations.

Sincerely,