Page 18 - Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings-Volume 3

CASE STUDY NO. 12 THE J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE
The J. Craig Venter Institute Laboratory
Case Study No. 12
Data Summary
Building Type: Research Lab-
oratory/Office (B Occupancy)
Location: La Jolla, CA
Gross Floor Area: 44,607 sf
Occupied: November 2013
Energy Modeling Software:
eQuest 3.64
Modeled EUI (Site):
53.3 kBtu/sq.ft. per year
Measured EUI (Site):
73.7 kBtu/sq.ft. per year (2015)
On-Site Renewable Energy System Installed:
500 kW (DC) Solar PV
Measured On-Site Energy Production:
850 MWh per year (2015)
65.0 kBtu/sq.ft. per year (2015)
Owner/Client
J. Craig Venter Institute
Design Team
Architect: ZGF Architects, Los Angeles, CA
Structural Engineer: KPFF, Los Angeles, CA
Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing Engineer: Integral Group / Peter Rumsey, Oakland, CA
Laboratory Planning: Jacobs Consultancy, Inc., Los Angeles
Lighting Design: David Nelson & Associates, Littleton, CO
Daylighting Analysis: IDeAs, San Jose, CA (now part of Inte- gral Group)
Commissioning Agent: Integral Group, Oakland, CA
Landscape Architect: Andro- pogon, Philadelphia, PA; David Reed Landscape Architects, San Diego, CA
General Contractor
McCarthy Building Companies
4
Laboratories in general present special challenges to achieving zero-net-energy (ZNE) perfor- mance. They are a building type that is highly energy intensive, requiring roughly five times as much energy per sq. ft. as a typical office building. Even for a standard one-story laboratory, the implication for the size of the solar photovoltaic array often exceeds what can be physically ac- commodated on the building and the site.
Applying the best practices for laboratory design as described for the national program in energy- efficient laboratories1, “Labs21”, can reduce the energy demand substantially, but there remain significant design challenges to balance the energy use with the renewable energy supply on the project site. Case Study No. 12, the J. Craig Venter Institute Laboratory, is the first research laboratory facility to address these challenges in totality and to achieve near-ZNE performance in its initial two years of operation, with a planned program of performance improvement measures to reach the final objective of full ZNE performance.
This case study is significant because it points the way to a performance goal that has been considered impractical, if not virtually impossible to achieve. It required the project team to take a Labs21 design for this site and program, with an estimated EUI = 270 kBtu/sq.ft., and to develop practical design strategies to obtain a performance at EUI = 70 kBtu/sq.ft., about 25% of the annual energy use of the Labs21 building. Such a reduction in EUI is required so that the solar photovoltaic system for ZNE performance can be physically accommodated on the building site.
“Labs21”
Some of these successful design strategies were cutting edge but proven concepts at the time that they were developed by the project team, but have been rapidly gaining wide use because they have been demonstrated to be cost-competitive with conventional design approaches in addition to using much less energy.
1 See “Laboratories for the 21st Century: Best Practice Guide”, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy
Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings: Volume 3