High Performance Buildings – A Great Fit for Higher Education

1. High Performance Buildings –A Great Fit for Higher Education MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

2. Today’s presentation addresses: • What is a High Performance Building (HPB)? • What are the benefits of HPBs? • What are the barriers to creating HPBs? • What are the elements of a process that will deliver a HPB? MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

3. A high performance building serves the needs of the people who inhabit it. It supports and nurtures their health, satisfaction, productivity, and spirit. It connects them to the natural world and the place they inhabit. An elegant architectural integration of high performance building strategies creates a building that honors the aspirations of those who use it, and engages the natural world. In its highest form, a high performance project is restorative and regenerative of its place in the world. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

4. High Performance Buildings Are: • Safe and Healthy • Comfortable • Durable • Resource Efficient • Adaptable to the future • Buildings that people care about MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

5. Safe and Healthy • For the users • For the builders • For the maintenance staff • For the other species in the biosphere MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

6. Safe and Healthy? MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

7. Safe and Healthy Woods Hole Research Center Westshire School MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

8. Comfortable • Draft-free • Proper temperature and humidity • Odor free • Quiet • Excellent visual environment MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

9. Comfortable? MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

10. Comfortable Quabbin Educational Support Center MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

11. Durable • Control of moisture is the principal strategy • Long life construction materials and finishes Don’t assume design professionals know this stuff! MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

12. Durable? MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

13. Durable Vermont Law School Oakes Hall MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

14. Resource efficient • Building size • Energy use • Water use • Materials used • Land used • Transportation required • Capital used MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

15. Vermont Law School Oakes Hall – 0.16 gallons of heating oil/ft2/year Vermont Law School Cornell Library – 0.50 gallons of heating oil/ft2/year Resource efficient The average college building in the Northeast uses 0.89 gallons of Heating oil/ft2/year MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

16. Adaptable to the Future • Future technologies • Future resource climates • Future uses MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

17. Adaptable Middlebury College Bicentennial Hall MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

18. A Building That People Care About Wampanoag Tribal Headquarters MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

19. Benefits of HP Buildings • Human health, performance, satisfaction - Faculty/student/staff attraction and retention • Cost savings – energy, maintenance, capital, infrastructure, employee retention • Image and self-image • Unparalleled educational opportunities across disciplines MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

20. What’s The Catch? To create a high performance building that provides these benefits, a design approach is needed that integrates all of the players from the beginning, and this design process must be as carefully designed as the building. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

21. A Case Study – Vermont Law School’s Oakes Hall MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

22. Project Information • Located in South Royalton, VT • 23,500 ft2 classroom building • Project budget 1.35 million dollars • Occupied Fall 1998 MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

23. Project Team • Truex Cullins & Partners, Architects • H. P. Cummings, Construction Manager • Kohler & Lewis, Mechanical • Engineering Ventures, Civil/Structural • Hallam Associates, Electrical • H. Keith Wagner, Landscape Architect • Energysmiths, Environmental Design MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

24. Project Goals • Create a superb teaching/learning facility • Demonstrate the Law School’s commitment to environmental design excellence in its own facilities MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

25. Key Aspects of Oakes’ Process • Building committee included administration, faculty, staff, maintenance director, students • Shared vision of clear goals • Capable design team included HPB consultant • Significant time devoted to programming and self-education within the building committee • Open process encouraged interest and feedback from the Law School community MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

26. Safe and Healthy • 100% outdoor air ventilation with moisture recovery • Low toxicity materials • Detailing for mold resistance MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

27. Comfortable • Draft-free construction (tested) • Quiet mechanical system • Excellent lighting and glare control • Humidity range reduced with moisture recovery • Operable windows in all rooms • User control permitted MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

28. Durable • Metal roof, fiber-cement siding on a rainscreen, fiberglass windows, linoleum flooring • Detailing to resist peeling paint, frozen pipes, ice dams, and mold MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

29. Resource Efficient • Superinsulated envelope, key ventilation controls and heat recovery, efficient lighting, all contribute to extremely low energy use – approximately 35,000 BTU/ft2/year • Composting toilets cut campus water use 50,000 gallons annually • Modest cost MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

30. Adaptable • Placing boilers in adjacent existing building begins infrastructure for campus-wide heat distribution • Large classrooms can be divided into 2 smaller rooms each with their own heating and cooling zone • Easy to run future cabling MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

31. A Building People Care About • Oakes Hall has become a symbol of pride for the Law School community • Oakes enhances the Law School’s ability to attract students who fit well with their environmental law focus MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

32. What Are The Barriers? • The perceived barriers are: • Cost • Time • Risk • The actual barriers are: • Knowledge Base • Mindset MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

33. Is Cost Really a Barrier? The bad news: You can’t add something into a project without taking something else out. The good news: There’s stuff to take out! And… Better doesn’t always cost more My own bottom line is that no client ever told me I had extra money allocated in the budget to make a building green. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

34. Cost Case Studies Harvard Law School Whittemore Hall MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

35. Lifecycle Cost • Be sure to analyze costs beyond first cost, including energy costs, maintenance costs, and repair/replacement costs. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

36. Time • Integrated design is front-loaded – time is needed to fully understand the site and the program, and then the unique opportunities • Some of this time is made up later when there are fewer co-ordination snafus, a shorter and less destructive cost-cutting phase, and fewer change orders during construction. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

37. Risk • When you ask people to do something they haven’t done before, you increase risk. • Risk must be clarified and people’s fears must be fully heard. • Research may need to be done to progress. • Document assumptions and decisions. • Identify the risk of doing the status quo. • The Owner makes the ultimate decision of how much risk is acceptable. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

38. Knowledge Base • High performance design and integrated design process are rarely taught or practiced • Basic building physics – how heat, air, and moisture act in buildings – is rarely taught • User feedback and building performance data rarely gets back to design professionals • Most design professionals are not current • There’s a lot of dogma and myth out there! MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

39. Mindset • The largest single barrier to creating high performance buildings that delight their users and regenerate their surroundings is simply MINDSET. • I’ve heard that doesn’t work, we’ve never done it that way, we’ve always done it that way, it won’t be beautiful, it’s too risky, it will be too expensive, no one will bid on it….. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

40. So is this really possible to achieve? Yes! MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

41. Will Using LEEDTM Assure Success? • Nope. It’s a good tool, but a checklist will never guarantee that integrated design will occur. • LEED Accreditation of design professionals is easy to obtain and guarantees nothing. MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

42. Find the Right Team • Use behavioral interviewing techniques and focus on past performance • Seek hard evidence that the team has done what they claim – look at design process minutes, construction documents, resource use data on projects, speak with maintenance staff and users • Interview engineers as well as architects MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

43. Set Goals and Measurable Objectives • Build a shared vision among all the stakeholders • Set prioritized goals, then measurable objectives MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

44. Insist on a Integrated Design Process • Make certain the engineers are present at the conceptual stage • Begin with a charrette and schedule periodic, focused work sessions with the entire team • Task design professionals with clearly presenting trade-offs on key decisions • Assign responsibilities and delivery dates • Draw the analysis box and cost box large enough MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

45. Manage Risk • Identify risks of both unfamiliar and familiar approaches. • Identify information needed to make a fully informed decision – seek previous implementations of proposed strategies – anything that exists is possible MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

46. And then… • Build it right • Create feedback loops for users, designers and operators • Evaluate what worked and what needs improvement • Publicize successes and MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.

47. Make lasting buildings that regenerate the places they inhabit, nurture their users, honor the web of life, and expand the human vision of what is possible MHEC High Performance Buildings - 5/30/2003 - Marc Rosenbaum, P.E.