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| Net zero building retrofit proposal  Architects and engineers from HOK/Vanderweil showcased their creativity and sustainable design expertise with a winning net zero building retrofit design in Metropolis magazine's Next Generation Design Competition 2011. Young designers were challenged to develop net zero energy solutions for a 46-year-old federal office building in downtown Los Angeles. In alignment with President Barack Obama's mandate that federal agencies lower their greenhouse gas emissions, the building's owner, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), has a goal of reducing building emissions 30 percent by 2020.HOK/Vanderweil's "Process Zero: Retrofit Resolution," a retrofit design process, reduces the building's overall energy demand by 84 percent while generating the remaining 16 percent on-site. The design uses proven energy conservation and renewal strategies, including atria and light wells that bring daylight into workspaces, integrated louvers for natural ventilation, a new facade with 35,000 square feet of photovoltaic film, 30,000 square feet of rooftop solar collectors that circulate water through floors to help with climate control, and office equipment operated by a cloud computing system. The design team's breakthrough idea, believed to be an architectural first, uses energy-producing microalgae to help power the building. The biomimetic-inspired design proposes a 25,000 square foot microalgae bioreactor system that generates 9 percent of the renovated federal building's power supply. A modular system of algae tubes wraps the building and absorbs the sun's radiation to produce lipids for fuel production on-site, simultaneously shading interior office spaces. This photobioreactor transforms the building into a living entity.= write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Construction News :: home page |