Page 42 - Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings-Volume 1

CASE STUDY NO. 2 STEVENS LIBRARY AT SACRED HEART SCHOOLS
Stevens Library at Sacred Heart Schools
Case Study No. 2
Data Summary
Building Type: K-12 School
Building
Location: Atherton, CA
Gross Floor Area: 6,300 gsf
Occupied: September 2012
Energy Modeling Software:
eQuest version 3.64
Modeled EUI (Site)
27.0 kBtu/sf-year
Measured EUI (Site)
16.9 kBtu/sf-year (2013)
On-Site Renewable Energy System Inatalled
40 kW (DC) Solar PV
Measured On-Site Energy Production
53,730 kWhr/year (2013) 29.1 kBtu/sf-year (2013)
Elementary and high school (“K-12”) projects are very good candidates for achieving ZNE design and performance because they are generally one or two stories in height with good opportunities for daylighting and sufficient roof area for the right-sized solar photovoltaic system. The Sacred Heart Academy Library, completed and occupied in 2012 as part of the new Lower & Middle School campus, exclusively serves the small K-8 campus and is intended as an educational demonstration of environmentally sustainable design.
The building is seeking Net Zero Energy Building Certification under the Living Building Chal- lenge. It is also being monitored by a third party measurement and verification team under the Zero Net Energy program activities of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company.
Background
Sacred Heart Schools launched a building program for a new K-8 campus, completing four new buildings by the fall of 2012. This client was guided in the planning of these buildings by one of the five goals of the organization’s educational programs, namely “to teach students to be stew- ards of the earth’s resources.” To this motivated client, this educational goal meant that the new building program should encompass the core concepts of sustainability.
The A/E team was commissioned to design these four buildings to a high level of sustainable de- sign and approached the design of each with the same type of integrated design process. A ZNE design for the new school library was not an initial client objective. Rather, it was the result of the design discussions with an A/E team that believed in the idea and an advocate on the client side that promoted it. The communication of the zero-net-water and zero-net-energy performance was seen as a strong asset to the educational program. This convergence of commitment moti- vated the client’s building committee and provided the confidence that such a design approach was practical and without unusual risk.
In the end, all of the buildings on the middle school quad were designed to be ZNE-Ready, in- cluding appropriate roof space for the installation of solar photovoltaic panels, conduit to these roofs for the future installation and adequate space in each building electrical room. The library was selected for the initial installation of the PV system and thus is fully ZNE.
Of particular note is that the construction budget was set at a very modest level and any building features or systems supporting a ZNE approach, including a solar photovoltaic system, had to be included within the constraints of the established budget—no extra funds for ZNE. The result was a very simple architectural design approach that succeeded in meeting the budget constraint while reaching a ZNE performance level.
Owner/Client
Sacred Heart Schools
Design Team
Architect: WRNS Studios, San Francisco CA
Structural Engineer: Hobach Lewin, Palo Alto and San Fran- cisco, CA
Mechanical / Plumbing / Electri- cal Engineer: Interface Engi- neers
Lighting Designer: Interface Engineers
Landscape Architect: BFS, Palo Alto, CA
General Contractor
Herrero Brothers
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Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings: Volume 1