SERA Architects joins CBE consortium

Portland-based firm SERA Architects recently joined CBE as the leader on a membership team (formerly the Integral Group team, who recently joined CBE as an individual member). As a multi-discipline firm committed to the built environment, SERA offers expertise in integrated architecture, urban design and planning, and interior design. Their design approach stresses urban infill, reuse and redevelopment as important strategies for creating a new sense of community.

SERA has worked on projects in many different settings, including education facilities, civic projects, hospitality, housing, workplace, non-profit, and more. Some of their recently completed projects include the Edith Green - Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland; the Washington High redevelopment, which turned a 1924 historic brick building in Portland into a hub of creativity and office spaces (photo below); many hotel renovations (including the Courtyard by Marriott in San Diego and the Pearl District Residence Inn in Portland); and Burnside 26, a mixed-use building featuring housing and retail space.

Washington High School, located in Portland, OR, restored to
become office and creative space. Image: SERA Architects.

Meet our new partner: Ingersoll Rand

Global industrial leader Ingersoll Rand is the newest company to join the CBE consortium. They work to enhance the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings; transport and protect food and perishables; and increase industrial productivity and efficiency. With a history dating back to 1871, Ingersoll Rand and its family of brands (including Trane, Club Car, and Thermo King) represents a proven history in residential, industrial and commercial markets.

Ingersoll Rand aims to inspire progress through unleashing the potential in people and technologies to advance the quality of life. By making environments comfortable, sustainable and efficient, they enable their customers to achieve real progress and create a positive impact in their world.

We look forward to collaborating with their staff as we investigate innovative approaches to a sustainable built environment!

Viega is newest CBE member

Founded in 1899, The Viega Group manufactures and distributes plumbing, heating, and pipe-joining systems, and offers more than 3,000 products in North America. Viega is best known for innovative press technology systems for industrial, commercial, and residential projects, including everything that is needed for a complete radiant heating or cooling installation. They provide the tools, training, and technical support needed for a radiant project, and their products  can be easily integrated into building designs for overall energy efficiencies. Viega's extensive product offerings provide system designers with many options and choices, and include tubing, fittings, manifolds, controls, mixing stations, sensors, mats, panels, tracks, and plates.

The Davis Building at the University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio,
installed a Viega radiant mat system and won first place in the
2014 ASHRAE Technology Awards. Image: Viega.

“We are honored to be associated with CBE,” said Mark Parent, Director of Product Management. “There is a lack of industry knowledge when it comes to radiant heating and cooling. Our hope is to help educate the industry on newer and more efficient technologies when designing commercial integrated hydronics systems.”

CBE’s recently received grant will be funding work related to radiant slab cooling, researching how to optimize radiant systems for maximum energy efficiency and comfort. This research will provide performance data to develop design and control guidelines. Viega and CBE are also collaborating to provide training sessions to leverage these research results to create innovative product advancements and design guidelines. Sessions are planned for May and November on both coasts, be on the lookout for further information soon.

New member welcome: Delos Living

CBRE's Los Angeles headquarters was the first WELL Certified
office in the world. Image: Delos.

The primary objective of Delos Living is to provide healthier places for people by positioning health
and wellness as a critical element of business planning, building design, and programming decisions. Knowing that people spend well over 90 percent of their time in buildings, Delos believes that commercial real estate has a unique opportunity to support health and wellness, including preventative health. They developed the WELL Building Standard, an evidence-based performance standard for measuring, certifying, and monitoring the performance of building features that impact occupant health and wellness (air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind).

The company is comprised of four core areas: (1) Delos Labs: The central research hub. They collaborate with scientific, medical, and design/research groups to review, assemble, publish, and evaluate the technical and performance data of the WELL Building Standard; (2) Delos Project Delivery and Project Management: Provides advisory support to industry (owners, developers, architects, engineers, contractors, and manufacturers) for the WELL Building Standard; (3) Delos Ventures: Identifies and brings innovative wellness real-estate products and technologies to market; and (4) STAYWELL and WELL SIGNATURE: Provides health and wellness lifestyle amenities, products and programs designed to enhance and improve the hospitality and multi-family living experience. CBE is currently working with Delos to develop a survey tool to be used for the WELL Standard, to measure worker health, productivity, and satisfaction with their environment.

CBE welcomes Stantec to consortium

With over 15,000 employees in more than 250 offices around the world, Stantec offers professional consulting with a wide variety of expertise — including engineering, planning, architecture, interior design, environmental sciences, and more. They collaborate across disciplines and industries to bring buildings, energy and resource, and infrastructure projects to life. They currently have 649 LEED accredited professionals and 293 LEED certified projects.

They have been involved in many high-profile projects, including: Sacramento Municipal Utility District’s (SMUD) East Campus Operations Center, one of the nation’s largest projects to target zero net energy (and a field study location for CBE’s research on radiant systems); a full-scale renovation of the EGWW Federal Building in Portland, Oregon, which received the 2014 Best Tall Building Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat; NREL’s LEED Platinum, ZNE Research Support Facility in Golden, Colorado; LA’s first ZNE visitor center for the Department of Recreation & Parks, the Audubon Visitor’s Center at Debs Park and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab’s FLEXLAB test bed facility.

Stantec was part of the design team for the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Image: Courtesy NREL.

Motivated by research, Stantec’s R&D Fund Program has awarded $4.8 million through 170 research grants to their team members. Through this research, they are finding creative ways to explore problems faced by their peers and clients. Stantec was inspired to join CBE because of their shared passion to be a diverse think tank, where sustainability and resilient design are embraced but they are driven by the process that takes them to that place. “We look forward to the thought provoking and inspiring discussion with the members of the Center for the Built Environment community,” notes Porus Antia, Associate and Manager at Stantec.

WRNS Studio joins membership team

Award-winning architecture and planning firm WRNS Studio joined CBE in April as part of the Taylor Engineering membership team. The 60-person firm, based in San Francisco, creates sustainable places for work, play, health, transit, and civic engagement. Recent projects include multiple buildings at UCSF Mission Bay, Adobe’s corporate campus in Utah, expansion of Intuit’s Mountain View campus, and the Hayes Valley Playground in San Francisco. They have received over 30 design awards since their founding in 2005, including an AIA COTE Top Ten Green Projects Award, several AIA design awards, and being named Architect magazine’s top firm of 2013. WRNS Studios’ design ethic is informed by sensitivity to place, contextual engagement, technical proficiency, and conservation. Currently, they are utilizing the CBE IEQ Occupant Survey for a large project with the Hawaii Department of Education. They are leading a project team to improve schools across Hawaii to become more sustainable and healthier for the students, teachers, and other faculty.

The Sacred Heart Schools' Stevens Net Zero Library, in Atherton,
CA, by WRNS Studio is LEED Platinum and designed to meet three petals
for the Living Building Challenge. Photo: Bruce Damonte.

Welcome new CBE member, BuroHappold

BuroHappold was on the project team for the Hawaii
Preparatory Academy, only the third recipient of
Living status under the Living Building Challenge.
Photo: Matthew Millman.

International firm BuroHappold Engineering also joined CBE in Spring
2014. Over the past 40 years, they have teamed up with leading architects and collaborated with global organizations such as the United Nations, The World Bank, and UNESCO. Focused at the building and city level, they work with their clients to find innovative and sustainable solutions for every project. Their team includes a wide range of engineers, innovative thinkers, economists, and planners, with diverse skill sets. Projects include stadiums, academic buildings, bridges, transportation (including San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal, currently under construction), commercial offices, and more. They have been at the forefront of low and zero-energy building design, evident in some of their recently completed projects. They were on the team for the net-zero Morphosis LA Office, the Honorable Mention of the 2013 CBE Livable Buildings Award. Their recently completed Hawaii Prep Academy received LEED Platinum and is the third project to receive “Living” status under the Living Building Challenge. The building’s cost-effective passive design demonstrates net-zero energy and water performance and an aesthetically pleasing solution.

Google joins CBE

Global technology leader Google has joined CBE. Their Real Estate and Workplace Services group is responsible for creating and maintaining spaces that encourage high productivity for thousands of Google employees all over the world. When it comes to building office environments, Google applies the same focus as any of their other products: put the user first. From concept through design, construction and building operations, they strive to create workplaces that positively impact the health and well-being of their employees, both now and 30 years from now. They construct healthy workplaces by approaching buildings as living systems, designing for daylight, clean air, and removal of harmful toxins and chemicals.

Google aims to create workspaces that put the health
and well-being of the users first. Photo: Christophe Wu, Google.

CBE welcomes BASF

The BASF House at the University
of Nottingham showcases energy efficient
technologies. Image: BASF.

BASF Corporation is the world’s largest chemical company, and operates in a variety of market segments. With offices around the globe, they employ over 112,000 people, including 17,000 in North America. Their portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products, functional solutions and agricultural solutions to oil and gas. BASF’s Center for Building Excellence serves as a conduit to the depth and breadth of BASF’s innovative technologies, and provides solutions for design and construction challenges. Their team includes building scientists, architects, engineers, and sustainable construction experts. BASF aims to solve challenges in the built environment through sustainable, high-performance solutions. As a provider of raw materials, systems and finish products to the construction industry, BASF delivers economically and ecologically sound solutions that facilitate high-quality construction. Their products aim to increase resource and energy efficiency, and to improve building life expectancy, thus lowering expenditure on maintenance and repairs.

GSA rejoins CBE consortium

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) was one of CBE’s founding members, and recently rejoined CBE after a short hiatus. GSA focuses on creating great work environments, providing  workspaces, security, furniture, equipment, supplies, and communications. GSA currently employs 15,000 people and accounts for nearly $65 billion in goods and services contracts. GSA has been a valuable supporter of CBE, and was instrumental in the development of the CBE Occupant Survey beginning over 15 years ago. GSA’s Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings is conducting research at three recently completed new construction and major modernization projects to: (1) study the impacts of natural daylighting on human health and identify health outcomes linked to light exposure. This could have far reaching impact on sustainable lighting design as a means to achieve energy goals and enhance health and well-being, improve work effectiveness, and reduce long-term health problems; and (2) examine the integrated project delivery (IPD) process and link high performance outcomes with decisions made during the design and construction processes. This will be useful as GSA’s project teams support future projects, influence improvements to the government procurement process, and offer lessons learned for implementing integrated processes and performance contracting.

New member welcome: Yost Grube Hall Architecture

CBE would like to welcome to its industry membership Yost Grube Hall Architecture (YGH), a 50-person Portland, Oregon, firm providing architecture, interior design, and master planning services for clients in the Pacific Northwest and internationally. Founded in 1964, the firm’s work is diverse, ranging from university buildings and embassies to corporate headquarters and commercial facilities. Each of their projects share YGH’s commitment to design that is in harmony with the environment, community, client values, and user needs.

Sustainability is a core value at YGH which affects every choice they make, from how they design buildings to how they manage their own office. Their expertise in sustainability is founded on over 35 years of experience designing green building projects based on project-specific research, leading to innovative solutions. Somewhat unique for a mid-sized northwest architectural firm, YGH has a 35-year history of work in the developing world, where minimal resources are a reality. YGH projects for USAID, the US Department of State and a number of US multinational firms in developing nations of Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia have honed their understanding that the best solutions start with passive, simple, and efficient designs that utilize local resources and respond to local culture and climate.

Central Oregon Community College Science Building, Bend, OR.
Photo: C. Columbres.

As leaders in sustainable design, YGH developed the State of Oregon’s current sustainable design standards for new construction and designed the first LEED Gold buildings for the State of Oregon, the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, the California State University system, and for the US General Services Administration (GSA) Region 9. YGH also designed the first LEED Platinum higher education building for the State of Washington.

YGH was an early signatory to the AIA 2030 Commitment and remains committed to project energy and water metrics as design targeting tools. The firm is also an early supporter of Health Product Declarations and a sponsor of the International Living Future Institute. They regularly work with their clients to understand how projects are performing and to build on that knowledge through their next project together.

Joining the Center for the Built Environment was a natural addition to YGH’s arsenal, explains YGH Sustainability Director Lona Rerick, AIA, LEED AP BD+C. “YGH is a learning organization that emphasizes project-based research as the foundation for sustained design excellence. CBE membership gives us access to a proven set of post occupancy surveys, robust design tools, growing project performance databases, and invaluable opportunities for peer to peer sharing. YGH is excited to join this group of thought leaders to share what we learn with our staff, clients, consultants and other partners to enrich our collaborative process going forward.”

Energy Visualization in the Workplace

Experts estimate possible building energy use reductions of more than 20% as a result of making metering data visible and actionable. Find out how CBE partner Arup is doing their part to engage their San Francisco office in personal energy monitoring, and what they have learned through the process. CBE will be continuing a field study this summer with their San Francisco office, and will have results available later this year.

Read the full story on Arup's blog >>

First New CBE Member of 2013

Mary Davidge Associates (MDA) has joined CBE's consortium. The firm consults with major technology corporations, helping them to define and implement their vision for the built environment. They bring a practical, integrated approach to developing and implementing environmental strategies for the high-performance workplace with a particular emphasis on human health. The MDA team itself has specialists with backgrounds in engineering, building sciences, knowledge management, and biology and uses innovative and technology-based solutions to achieve the goals of its clients. MDA provides consulting services during design, construction and operations, ensuring that sustainable design and operations goals are executed through an integrated process. MDA’s services include a focus on materials toxicity screening, where it has served in a pioneering role in the building industry.

Healthcare Design Software Company Latest CBE Member

Aditazz, a San Bruno-based firm, offers a complete scope of design services, using highly refined computer simulation and optimization strategies. The company has developed an integrated platform for healthcare that allows stakeholders to virtually operate a building model while still in the design stage. Their overall goal is to improve patient care through a new design approach, enabling the creation of better buildings faster, and at a lower cost than conventional delivery methods.

CBE members may remember Benjamin Welle, who participated on a panel on building information modeling (BIM) at a past CBE advisory board meeting. Ben is now Mechanical System Product Design and Development lead at Aditazz.

Aditazz's winning entry for Kaiser Permanente's Small Hospital Big Idea Competition.

CBE Consortium Welcomes first Asia-based Company

Representing the first CBE member headquartered in Asia, LG Electronics has recently joined CBE. LG is a global leader in consumer electronics, appliances, and commercial building HVAC, solar cells, and lighting. The firm is a leader in variable refrigerant flow (VRF) technology for commercial, education, hospitality, retail, and healthcare applications, and also duct-free technology for residential and light commercial markets. The company provides numerous technical and engineering resources to assist specifiers.

Dr. Juyoun Lee, a principal research engineer with LG Electronics Research Center, has worked with CBE as a visiting scholar for over a year, and has worked with CBE researchers on laboratory and simulation studies on human comfort. Dr. Lee is our primary liaison with LG, and is now supporting new CBE market research in collaboration with LG.

Big Ass Fans Joins CBE Consortium

Big Ass Fan brewery installation at
Bell's Brewery, Kalamazoo, MI.

As the name implies, Big Ass Fans is a preeminent designer and manufacturer of fans for commercial, industrial, agricultural, institutional, and residential buildings. The company has headquarters, research and manufacturing facilities in Lexington, KY, and additional facilities in Queensland, Australia. Their products contribute to the sustainability of a building by reducing ductwork, increasing the effectiveness of air distribution systems, and reducing the energy required to provide comfort to occupants.  Included in the company's products is the Haiku® fan, made from FSC bamboo and recently named as a Top-10 Green Building Product in 2013 by BuildingGreen. Haiku is certified by ENERGY STAR as the world’s most efficient ceiling fan, using only 2-30 watts (compared to 90-110 watts for a typical fan).

Big Ass Fans generously donated fans for use in CBE’s human test chamber, and we look forward to working with them and other industry partners on the development of new standards for testing fan performance.

P2S Engineering Joins Integral Group Team

Fullerton College Library
renovation by P2S Engineering.  

We are happy to welcome P2S Engineering to CBE, who joined as part of the Integral Group team. CBE members may remember P2S founder Kent Peterson, who was our guest speaker at CBE's October 2010 advisory board meeting. P2S offers engineering services including MEP, energy efficiency, commissioning and technology for both new and retrofit construction projects. The firm’s practice includes a broad range of project types including education, government, laboratory, industrial, clean energy, infrastructure, and more. 

P2S’ technical staff, comprised of over 50% LEED Accredited Professionals, are passionate about providing sustainable solutions and expertise in high-performance green building projects, and helping clients reach their sustainability goals. The firm has been named for three years in a row as one of the best places to work in Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles Business Journal. The recognition cites the firm’s offices in Long Beach, CA, located in a LEED-Gold tenant improvement project that includes morale boosting features such as a fitness center and green workstations.

Affiliated Engineers Brings New Perspectives to CBE Consortium

In Spring 2012, Affiliated Engineers, Inc. (AEI) became the newest member of CBE. AEI is a multi-discipline engineering practice providing innovative solutions for complex and large scale projects worldwide. AEI integrates laterally across offices, bringing the best talent to a given project, regardless of location, and brings a fundamental commitment to ensuring that their work reflects the highest standards in sustainable design practices. The firm has over 600  people in 11 offices, with U.S. locations spanning coast to coast, and north to south, as well as an office in Bahrain. We enjoyed the participation of a number of managers and technical staff from AEI at CBE’s April industry advisory board meeting, and look forward to our future collaborations with them.
 

Leader in Net-Zero Engineering Joins CBE

CBE is proud to announce that Interface Engineering became a member of our consortium in Fall 2011. Established in 1969, the multidisciplinary consulting and engineering firm currently has a staff of 180 located in four West Coast offices and in Doha, Qatar. Its services include MEP design, specialty system design (building technologies, lighting and fire/life safety systems), building performance simulations, construction administration, building commissioning and post-occupancy evaluations. For more than a decade, Interface’s practice has focused on high performance buildings, resulting in 88 LEED certified buildings, over 200 LEED buildings in design and construction, two net-zero buildings, and 10 net-zero buildings in design and construction.  

OUS/OHSU Collaborative Life Science Building. Interface is providing MEP

design and building performance simulations for this new medical, lab, and

research facility. Architecture: SERA Architects, CO Architects.

CBE Welcomes New Member NSA

In Fall 2011, we welcomed our newest federal agency to the CBE consortium. The National Security Agency/Central Security Service (NSA/CSS) leads the U.S. government in cryptology, confronts the challenge of preventing foreign adversaries from gaining access to sensitive or classified national security information, and collects, processes, and disseminates intelligence information from foreign signals for intelligence and counterintelligence purposes and to support military operations. The Sustainable Design and Construction Program at NSA incorporates a number of features and program areas, including use of materials with recycled content, recycling of construction materials, waste minimization, the use of biologically-based storm water management, and water and energy conservation. The broadest portion of the program is the incorporation of the green building program known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED).
NSA is using the principles of LEED to enhance the quality of future construction and renovation within the Agency, both with and without formal certification. Even when projects are not scored, the use of LEED criteria affects the selected materials, construction techniques, and design approaches. Formal scoring is performed on new construction efforts and in leased facilities fit-up and renovation.