Page 74 - Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings-Volume 1

CASE STUDY NO. 4 WATSONVILLE WATER RESOURCES CENTER
Watsonville Water Resources Center
Case Study No. 4
Data Summary
Building Type: Office/Lab
Location: Watsonville, CA
Gross Floor Area: 16,000 gsf
Occupied: November 2009
Energy Modeling Software:
eQuest version 3.51
Modeled EUI (Site)
56.9 kBtu/sf-year
Measured EUI (Site)
51.4 kBtu/sf-year
On-Site Renewable Energy System
70 kW (DC) Solar PV (design) 96 kW (DC) Solar PV (roof
system—see discussion on
p. 67)
254 kW (DC) Solar PV (ground
system)
Measured On-Site Energy Production
160,000 kWhr/year (roof sys- tem)
34.1 kBtu/sf-year (roof system)
392,000 kWhr/year (ground system)
83.7 kBtu/sf-year (ground system)
Owner/Client
City of Watsonville
Design Team
The American Institute of Architects designated the project one of the AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects of 20101. The building is designed to demonstrate the integration of sustainability con- cepts especially for water but also for energy. The discussion in this case study focuses exclu- sively on the energy aspects of the design, both the design process and the building perfor- mance, particularly as it pertains to the goal of a ZNE building design.
By every indication, the Watsonville Water Resources Center (WRC) is performing as a ZNE building. Some idiosyncracies of the metering system and load grouping at this plant make the definitive results seen in the previous three case studies impossible to pinpoint in this case, but ZNE performance appears nearly certain.
Background
The new 16,000 sq. ft. Watsonville Water Resources Center is part of the Watsonville Area Water Operations Center, a water recycling facility that provides recycled water to farmers throughout the nearby coastal areas of this part of central California. The building provides the office, labora- tory and educational spaces associated with the water recycling plant.
Similar to other ZNE projects, the brief for the Watsonville WRC project did not originally in- clude a mandate for a ZNE design. This came about due to the combination of one aspect of the client’s stated mission, in this case demonstration of “environmental stewardship”, with an A/E team committed to achieving ZNE performance if possible within the client’s financial and operational constraints.
1 For details on this award, see http://www2.aiatopten.org/hpb/overview.cfm?ProjectID=1731
Aerial view of project site (looking south): Building (circled) and Water Recycling Plant
Architect: WRNS Studio, San Francisco CA
Structural Engineer: JEC Struc- tural Consulting, Oakland, CA
Mechanical / Plumbing Engi- neer: Rumsey Engineers (now part of Integral Design Group, Oakland CA)
Electrical Engineer and Light- ing Designer: Integrated Design Associates - IDeAs (now part of Integral Design Group, Oakland CA)
Landscape Architect: Bellinger Foster Steinmetz
General Contractor Devcon Construction
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Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings: Volume 1