2012 Year in Review

foreword
The Sustainable Stan Journal has been in a dormant stage the last few months. You could say we were being sustainable by reducing the amount of information being placed on the Internet.  The truth of the matter is that Stan was addressing more pressing matters.  As you will see from this post, there have been many great projects coming to fruition for Schmidt Associates over the past year. We are hoping this is an indicator that the economy is on the upswing.    

2012 projects 
2012 has been a banner year for Schmidt Associates.  Below are  some of the project highlights that occurred.

Illinois Fall Creek Center - Ivy Tech Community College

Completed this year, the project won 5 Indianapolis Monumental Affair Awards (Honor Awards for Architecture, Adaptive Reuse, and Construction, a Merit Award for Engineering, and an Achievement Award for Community Development). The project also won the Honor Award for the 2012 AIA Indiana's Design Awards. 
The building's design preserved the former St. Vincent Hospital building facade, along with key architectural features including the grand staircase. These features became the face of the new state-of-the-art, 211,650 square feet building that houses 29 classrooms, 8 science labs, computer labs, and 6 study rooms.  The project integrated a high-efficiency VRV (Variable Refrigerant Volume) mechanical system that is expected to be 15% more efficient than what is required by the Energy Code.  The project is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification.

Scott College of Business - Indiana State University 

The Scott College of Business at Indiana State University opened this year. This project was the 3rd phase of work on a previous Federal Courthouse and US Post Office facility. The project involved major renovation to accommodate the educational program of the school, while maintaining/restoring the original character of the building and complimenting it with new materials.  Reusing the existing facility kept a historical piece of Terre  Haute intact and provided a highly sustainable building. The building is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification.

Studebaker East Residence Hall - Ball State University

The Studebaker East Residence Hall at Ball State University opened this year. This project involved stripping the existing building down to only its structural frame and rebuilding a new facility around it. The 8-story building includes a chilled beam mechanical system that is connected to the campus geothermal loop, making it one of the most energy-efficient buildings on campus.  The project is expected to achieve LEED Gold certification.

Michael A. Evans Center for Health Sciences - Marian University

This new facility is currently under construction and expected to be completed in 2013. The project will be the flagship facility for the campus and the first Catholic School of Osteopathic Medicine in the country. The project is expected to achieve LEED Gold.     
Marian University video on the project

Corporate College and Culinary Labs - Ivy Tech Community College

The old Stouffer's Hotel to the north of downtown Indianapolis was renovated to become the new Ivy Tech Corporate College and Conference Center.  The facility is 196,000 square feet and had several design challenges-including 8'-8" floor-to-floor heights - and maintaining 4 floors of occupied residential units in the the center of the building.  The project includes the state's largest culinary arts program. A new restaurant on the top floor allows the students to exhibit their skills.  The mechanical system for the facility was replaced, and the exterior envelope was improved to exceed ASHRAE 90.1 2007 standards, providing Ivy Tech with a new sustainable facility in an old body.

Lake Central Schools

Lake Central High School

Protsman Elementary School

The Lake Central School Corporation awarded Schmidt Associates several projects related to their $160 million bond issue. The largest pieces of work involve additions and renovations to Lake Central High School and construction of a new Protsman Elementary School and then demolition of the existing elementary school.  The design and documentation of the projects was on a very aggressive schedule. Both projects have been designed to achieve Energy Star certification, utilizing VRF (variable refrigerant flow) mechanical systems that improve their energy efficiency. The high school construction began in the summer of 2012 and the first pieces of the additions are scheduled to open around the end of the year in 2013.

We are excited to see the construction of these projects take shape and look forward to the other projects that should make 2013 just as remarkable as 2012.

news

New LEED APs
The following Schmidt Associates employees became LEED accredited professionals in 2012:

Kionna Walker -
Architectural Graduate

 

Seth Mathis - BIM Designer

Office improvements

Schmidt Associates' office is once again participating in Energy Star's Battle of the Buildings. This is a national competition to see what facilities can reduce the most amount of energy spent. In the fall of 2011, several improvements were made to reduce energy consumption at Schmidt Associates, including replacing a rooftop mechanical unit and associated controls, and replacing fluorescent lights in Interiors to LED to mention a couple.  These improvements have made a noticeable difference in the energy spent at Schmidt Associates. In 2012, several thermostats were replaced with the new Nest thermostats, that allow offsite controllability and provide monitoring/behavioral adjustments to temperature setting. We have continued to track our energy usage on a weekly and monthly basis to track the progress being made. Schmidt Associates has reduced about 12% of its energy usage in the last two years.

2nd Annual Schmidt Associates Energy Fair
In November of 2011, Schmidt Associates held its 2nd Energy Fair. This year's fair was even larger than the inaugural fair, with invitations being extended to Schmidt Associates clients. The fair included a presentation titled The Importance of Energy and the Bottom Line, by Eric Broemel, Mechanical Engineer at Schmidt Associates (and member of Schmidt's Sustainability Committee) and Dan Schmidt, the current Director for Energy and the Environment for the State of Indiana. The event also included booths by many local and national vendors of sustainable building products. Thanks for the efforts of all involved, especially the vendors (see list below) in making this event a success.
2012 Energy Fair vendors:
Energizing Indiana, Enviromax, ESL/Spectrum, Hubbel, IPL, ITS, NuSun Solar, Redwood Systems/Anixter, Specified Lighting, VCS/OCS

opinion  
2012 was indeed a great year for Schmidt Associates.  The projects that were completed and the projects that just started construction all had unique challenges. When you look at the entire body of work, along with the highlighted projects above, it is remarkable how much work has been produced and the quality of the work.  

We look forward to continued success in 2013. A major change for the office this year will be the relocation of the front door of Schmidt Associates to Massachusetts Avenue.  Seating moves have already begun to get ready for construction to begin (we consider having construction in our office as customer empathy training).  The project will incorporate many of the same sustainable building practices used in Schmidt's projects, including a VRV mechanical system. 

We will continue to keep you updated on our renovation progress along with other high-performance projects throughout the year. We hope you have a great 2013 as well.