The biggest surprise for the authors was how few projects actually have or are willing to share operating data, either because of a lack of interest in the outcomes, concerns about confidentiality of informa tion, divided responsibilities between designers and clients, lack of follow-through by designers in the outcomes of their efforts, or simply our inability
to pierce corporate and institutional veils to get informa tion in a timely manner from the right people.
A second surprise was how widely varying the data were: some projects have carefully monitored and recorded their energy use and water use from inception. Others had only utility bills to share with us, and we were forced to do the data analysis. A clear recom men -dation from this study is that we need common databases for all certified green buildings that allow easy assembly and dissemination of operating data, along with all of the parameters that might influence the data such as percentage occupancy, presence of data centers and laboratories, etc. We also want to express our appreciation for the German and Swiss projects, with their focus on primary (source) energy use, and the UK projects, for a clear focus on carbon emissions from building energy use.
In some cases, energy use reporting only considers “base building”
loads (e.g., in Australian multi-tenanted buildings) and neglects
“tenant” loads such as lighting and plug loads. In some European projects energy data includes lighting but excludes plug and process loads. Wherever possible, we have made adjustments to reported data to take these discrepancies into account.
In other cases, the lack of publicly accessible databases of green-certified projects hindered our search for projects; this was espe-cially true of the UK’s BREEAM system, among others. This paucity of actual operating data tied to specific projects points out the need for more open reporting formats for green buildings’ energy and water-use data, reporting that needs to be enforced and implemented by the major organizations such as USGBC, BRE Global, and the Green Building Council of Australia, world leaders in green building rating schemes. To this end, we have included our own modest proposals in Chapter 11.
Case Studies
In this chapter, we present the world’s greenest buildings, in forty-nine case-study profiles. Owing to differences between regional climatic conditions, construction methods, and design techniques, we organized the case studies into three distinct regions: The Americas, Europe, and Asia Pacific. If you don’t find your favorite LEED Platinum or equivalent project on this list, it most likely did not meet one criterion (or more) outlined in Chapter 6 or else declined to share data and photos for this book. Within a given region, the projects are listed in alphabetical order first by country, then in alphabetical order within each country. Chapter 8 summarizes the projects’ energy and water consump -tion and discusses key reasons why it is difficult to achieve better performance in most new green buildings. Figures for energy and water use for all case study projects were provided by the project owner, architect, engineer, or consultant, unless otherwise indicated.
Canada
• Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research, University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia
• Child Development Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta
• Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Chile
• Transoceánica, Santiago
United States
• 41 Cooper Square, The Cooper Union, New York, New York
• 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard, Rockville, Maryland
• Biodesign Institute B, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona
• Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, Austin, Texas
• Genzyme Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Great River Energy Headquarters, Maple Grove, Minnesota
• Johnson Controls Campus, Glendale, Wisconsin
• Kroon Hall, School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
• Lewis and Clark State Office Building, Jefferson City, Missouri
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Research Support Facility I, Golden, Colorado
• Newark Center for Health Sciences and Technology, Ohlone College, Newark, California
• Oregon Health and Science University, Center for Health and Healing, Portland, Oregon
• Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota
• Tahoe Center for Environmental Sciences, Incline Village, Nevada
• Twelve West, Portland, Oregon
CHARLES E. FIPKE CENTRE FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, Kelowna, British Columbia
Located on the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus, the Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research is a 68,000-sq-ft (6,320-sq-m) multi-purpose academic and research facility. It provides office space, classrooms, teaching labs, research labs, and student-support areas. Design goals focused on reflecting generic modular design as well as the ease of converting it into a primary research and teaching facility.
The building structure is cast-in-place concrete for the main floors and structural steel for the entrances and atrium space. Precast panels, brick, and curtain-wall glazing systems were implemented for the exterior skin.
The Fipke Centre achieved five Green Globes, the highest rating, under the Canadian Green Globes Eco-Rating Program.1The Green Globes Eco-Rating Program involves a graduated rating system—
from one to five Green Globes—designed to recognize buildings that show improved energy and environmental performance.2As shown in Table 7.1, the Centre’s energy use intensity of 374 kWh/sq m/year is outstanding for a university research laboratory.
“We feel the Green Globes system is an accurate way to assess buildings and their environmental performance,” said David Roche, Development Manager for UBC Properties Trust. “The five Green Globes rating that the Fipke Centre has achieved is equivalent to LEED Platinum. To our knowledge, no other lab building in Canada has achieved a rating of either LEED Platinum or five Green Globes.”3
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is aiming for a campus-wide zero-carbon footprint; the Fipke Centre’s groundwater heating and cooling system is a key component in achieving that goal. The system pumps groundwater from beneath the campus, using the water to heat or cool buildings, depending on the season, and then returns the water to the ground. The university expects this system to save more than $100,000 annually campus-wide.4
“We’re extracting heating and cooling energy from the great Okanagan aquifer upon which half the campus sits,” said Aidan Kiernan, Assistant Vice President of Operations. “So this will be the first building on campus that will be heated and cooled using geothermal energy. [It’s] likely [that this is] the only campus of its kind
7.1 Below: The Fipke Centre at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus will help meet the campus’s zero-carbon footprint goal.
Photo: Margo Yacheshyn.
7.2 Right: The 6,320-sq-m Fipke Centre for Innovative Research achieved five Green Globes, the highest rating. Photo: Margo Yacheshyn.
TABLE 7.1
Energy use, September 2010–August 2011
Annual use Intensity
Electricity 1,941,433 kWh 307 kWh/sq m
Gas (kWh) 423,667 67.0
Total 2,365,099 374
Figures for energy and water use for all case-study projects were provided by the project owner, architect, engineer, or consultant, unless otherwise noted.
in North America at this time that will have all of its new buildings on geothermal and all existing buildings retrofitted for geothermal.”5
Other key sustainability features include:
• high-performance envelope
• radiant slab heating and cooling
• district energy system
• heat reclamation systems
• low-flow fume hoods
• displacement ventilation
• natural and wind-driven ventilation.
“Teaching and research are our top priorities, and the Fipke Centre represents a major expansion in our capacity to excel in both areas,”
said Doug Owram, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at UBC Okanagan. “This new facility supports learning with state-of-the-art technology and is designed to encourage interaction between students and their professors, and between academic disciplines.”6
At a glance
Name: Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research Location: Kelowna, BC
Size: 68,000 sq ft (6,320 sq m) Completed: October 2008
Construction Value: CDN$33 million Distinction: Five Green Globes
Program: Academic research labs, classrooms, theater, animal care facility
Project team
Owner: UBC Properties Trust
Architect: Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Mechanical Engineer: Cobalt
Electrical Engineer: Falcon
CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTRE,