Introducing Utah Clean Energy’s Climate Innovation Center A Model of Zero Energy Adaptive Reuse BY KEVIN EMERSON, MSc Design Team Architect: Blalock & Partners Civil Engineer: Forsgren Electrical Engineer: BNA Mechanical Engineer: VBFA Structural Engineer: BHB Engineers Geotechnical Engineer: AGEC Interior Design: Blalock & Partners Landscape Architect: G Brown Building Envelope Commissioning Agent: Morrison Hershfield (now Stantec) System Commissioning Agent: Bernhard Solar Design: Gardner Energy Construction Team GC: Okland Concrete: Iron Horse Plumbing: Reliable HVAC: Atlas (and Mechanical Products) Electrical: STF Masonry: Monsen Cladding: Monsen Drywall: K&L Painting: Grow Tile/Stone: Design Team Millwork: Boswell Flooring: Design Team Roofing: Superior Glazing/Curtain Wall: Midwest Waterproofing: Guaranteed Steel Fabrication: Intermark Steel Erection: Intermark Mass Timber: Golder (installer) sourced by Kalesnikoff Excavation: MC Green Demolition: Red Rock Precast: No precast on project Landscaping: Erickson Building Envelope Commissioning Agent: Morrison Hershfield (now Stantec) System Commissioning Agent: Bernhard Solar Equipment and Install: rPlus Energies, Gardner Energy, Creative Energies, Intermountain Wind and Solar In a significant step towards redefining sustainable building, Utah Clean Energy recently unveiled the new zero energy office building, the Climate Innovation Center. This innovative space, spearheaded by a dedicated team including myself, goes beyond reducing our carbon footprint; it represents a commitment to the future of our planet and the well-being of our employees. Utah Clean Energy is a mission-driven nonprofit organization dedicated to ensuring healthy, thriving communities for all, empowered and sustained by clean energy. Since our inception, tackling the pollution from the built environment has been at the forefront of Utah Clean Energy’s work. When it was time to find a permanent home for Utah Clean Energy, it was imperative that we led by example. In addition to serving as Utah Clean Energy’s headquarters, the Climate Innovation Center is a teaching tool and model of how to retrofit existing buildings to achieve zero emissions. This was essential to Utah Clean Energy’s mission, given that globally, buildings contribute an estimated 42% of total energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Innovation Center is registered to receive Zero Energy certification through the International Living Future Institute. This ambitious third-party standard requires that 100% of a building’s energy use is generated through onsite renewable energy and doesn’t allow onsite combustion for space heating, water heating, etc. We’ll soon begin our 12-month performance period for our Zero Energy and ENERGY STAR certifications. In this article, I’ll walk you through the nine steps we took to bring the Climate Innovation Center to fruition. Nine Steps to Zero Energy at the Climate Innovation Center Step 1: Set an ambitious goal and create the right team. One of the first decisions we made for the Climate Innovation Center was to commit to achieving a zero-energy building. Both the owner and the design team — including our architect and mechanical engineer — need to commit to the zero-energy goal. Buy-in on the front end from our design team was vital. Early on, we integrated our zero-energy goals as core requirements into our Owner’s Project Requirements/Project Manual. We referred to this document frequently during design and throughout the construction process to ensure that the energy performance targets stayed front and center in all project decisions. Then we asked ourselves and our design team, “How do we know how energy efficient to design the building?” This is where the energy model came in. I’ll tell you more about this in a moment. 20 REFLEXION
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