bard, rao + athanas consulting engineers project spotlight

15 downloads 223 Views 4MB Size Report
Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE), ... Systems (CSE) US Headquarters, dubbed the ... Engineers, LLC (MEP/FP/Tel Data Engi
Issue No. 02 | May 2015

BARD, RAO + ATHANAS CONSULTING ENGINEERS PROJECT SPOTLIGHT: Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE), US Headquarters, 5 Channel Center Boston, MA PROJECT SCOPE Size: 50,000 SF Construction Cost: $16,000,000 Completion Date: 2013 Pursuing LEED Gold Certification

The Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) US Headquarters, dubbed the “Living Lab,” is an adaptive reuse of a six-story historical structure built circa 1913, originally used as a mercantile building for the leather trade in the Seaport District of Boston. This aging structure has been transformed into a living laboratory, showcasing the latest in building technology. The building utilized multiple envelope upgrades including vacuum insulation panels, cellulose and mineral wool insulation, LED lighting, stateof-the-art mechanical systems such as chilled sails, passive chilled beams, active chilled beams, mullion fan-powered finned tubes, dual compressor magnetic bearing chiller, low-wall displacement ventilation, natural ventilation, and a thermally active slab (chilled or heated). All new energy efficient building systems can be independently controlled to test efficiency, load capacity, ventilation effectiveness, and thermal comfort, under different system configurations and occupancy levels. PROJECT TEAM DiMella Shaffer (Architect), Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers, LLC (MEP/FP/Tel Data Engineer), Gilbane Building Company (Construction Manager), McNamara Salvia (Structural Engineer), Redgate (Strategic Advisory / Project Management), Lam Partners (Lighting Consultant), Halverson Design Partnership, Inc. (Landscape Architect), C3, Inc. (Code Consultant), VHB, Inc. (Civil Engineer), MacRostie Historic Advisors, LLC (Historical Consultant), Haley & Aldrich, Inc. (Geotechnical Engineer)

“BR+A’s commitment to cutting-edge engineering design and creative solutions was essential to the success of the Fraunhofer renovation. Their professionalism and resourceful approach to design made them a valuable asset to the team.” — Tom Hamill, Principal, Founding Partner Redgate Real Estate Advisors, LLC

2030 Challenge Dominated with Fraunhofer Partnership By Jonathan Chan, PE, LEED AP BD+C; Michelle Ruda, LEED AP BD+C; and Jacob Knowles, LEED AP BD+C

The goal of Architecture 2030’s “The 2030 Challenge” is for all new buildings to be carbon-neutral by the year 2030. In other words, to be carbon-neutral, a building must use no fossil fuel greenhouse-gasemitting energy to operate. The 2030 Challenge creates five-year increments with progressive targets compared to the existing buildings from the 2003 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey. Fraunhofer partnered up with BR+A, along with numerous industry leaders, to create the Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) Living Lab in Boston, Massachusetts. Together, the team pursued Fraunhofer’s mission of fostering economic development through the commercialization of clean energy technologies for the benefit of society. The core concept of the building design is based on being the ‘lab bench,’ a highly efficient and stable base building infrastructure, paired with the ‘experiment,’ a wide variety of zone-level systems that can be readily switched over, adjusted, and evaluated – perfect for Fraunhofer’s mission. The Fraunhofer Partnership resulted in a highly sustainable building that, at the time of Construction Documents in 2012, had more than met the 2030 Challenge goal. BR+A is currently in collaboration with Fraunhofer, collecting the first year of energy data to calibrate the energy model and confirm that building performance is meeting project goals. Fraunhofer is also using their data-loggers to measure hygrothermal performance, which studies the correlation between the building envelope and the enclosed space. BR+A is in the process of tabulating results and formalizing white-papers on these initiatives, in addition to sharing them with our clients to help inform future projects.

www.brplusa.com

To learn more about this project, please contact: Steve Montibello, Director of Business Development t. 617.925.8302 | e. [email protected]