Page 150 - Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings-Volume 3

CASE STUDY NO. 17 CENTRAL ENERGY FACILITY OPERATIONS CENTER
Central Energy Facility Operations Center
Case Study No. 17
Data Summary
Building Type: Higher Educa-
tion-Administration
Location: Stanford, CA
Gross Floor Area: 9,571 sf
Occupied: March 2015
Energy Modeling Software:
eQuest (2010)
Modeled EUI (Site):
Not available - see discussion
Measured EUI (Site):
54.1 kBtu/sq.ft. per year (2017- 2018)
On-Site Renewable Energy System Installed:
175 kW (DC) Solar PV
Measured On-Site Energy Production:
288 MWh per year (2017-18) 102.9 kBtu/sq.ft. per year (2017-18)
Owner/Client
Stanford University
Design Team
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumb- ing Engineer (Prime): Affili- ated Engineers Inc. (AEI), San Francisco, CA
Architect: ZGF Architects, Port- land, OR
Structural Engineer: Rutherford + Chekene, San Francisco, CA
Lighting Design: ZGF Archi- tects, Portland, OR
Landscape Architect: Tom Lead- er Studio, San Francisco, CA
General Contractor
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company
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The Central Energy Facility (CEF) at Stanford University began successful operation in March, 2015, and has exceeded the initial performance targets in its first three years of operation. As radically innovative as the energy systems are in their design for the campus, the story of this project has even more aspects of design worth noting. For although 90% of the structure is func- tionally given over to industrial-type space and large machines, about 10% of the space is occu- pied like a specialized office building, where the application of advanced design ideas continues.
One of the outcomes is zero-net-energy (ZNE) performance of the office building component of the CEF, which makes it an instructive case study for this Volume 3.
Background
As noted in the Preface, the Department of Sustainability and Energy Management had com- pleted three years of feasibility studies leading up to the decision by Stanford University to aban- don its existing central plant and build the dramatically innovative CEF beyond the current edge of campus. These many studies and related analyses essentially formed a basis of design for the CEF, but there remained much to determine through the process of actually developing the design of the physical structure and space with the help of outside professional design firms.
Because of the industrial nature of the project, Stanford awarded the contract for the design of the CEF to an engineering firm that was skilled with these types of facilities, Affiliated Engineers (AEI) of San Francisco. Concerned about the visual aspects of the facility, its relation to the origi- nal 1888 campus plan by Frederick Law Olmsted and the design of the attached office building, Stanford also met with several architectural firms and recommended ZGF Arhitects (Portland) to AEI, the prime contractor. The arrangement was agreed upon since the two firms had prior experience of successfully teaming together on complex projects.
Design Process and Low Energy Design Strategies
Design studies began in earnest in 2011, using the large amount of work that had been done to that point as the point of departure. Design challenges included the relation of the CEF to the adjacent central campus and, related to this, the size and scale of the facility and the industrial appearance of the storage tanks and electrical sub-station.
Planning Concept and General Design Considerations
The brief for the entire building included engagement with the campus community as a visible demonstration of sustainability and zero-net-energy at Stanford, as well as to capitalize on the educational opportunity created by the CEF and its design. The design team began with this, suggesting expansion of the building program to include public spaces, both indoor and outdoor, such as meeting spaces, a lecture room and even an outdoor amphitheater.
The office spaces, primarily occupied by the Department of Sustainability and Energy Manage- ment, include these meeting and lecture rooms that were programmed to accommodate small conferences for general campus use as well as the many visitors that specifically come to the CEF to learn about its advanced design features. The program for this separate office building includes the main control room of the campus energy and distribution systems.
The campus architect for Stanford University, recognizing that the campus would expand in the future in the direction of the new CEF, suggested that the new facility, specifically the office building component, be designed in relation to the long axes of Olmsted’s historic campus plan. This plan features a main central axis ending at the entry to the original core of historic buildings, but also perpendicular axes from there that create long sightlines through the landscape and its
Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings: Volume 3