The space at 1221 Pennsylvania Street was originally the Indianapolis FBI headquarters built in 1968. Guidon purchased the space in 2018 to renovate to be their new headquarters location in Indianapolis. The building was abandoned for many years and is now a transformational project for the Old Northside neighborhood. Guidon Head- quarters (Guidon HQ) received the first LEEDv4 Platinum certification in the state of Indiana in October of 2019. The following is a bit about the LEED certification process and the credits that were achieved at Guidon HQ. When an owner approaches a team with a desire to obtain a LEED certification for their building, the first question to ask is where the building is located. Building location sets the tone for the rest of the project’s certification. The first Indiana’s First LEED v4 Certified Building By Hannah Fleck
Guidon Exterior
cache of points is allocated under the category of Location and Trans- portation . Preliminary research on the property location will indicate how many points the project can receive in this category. For example, at Guidon HQ it was determined there was a nearby bicycle network and providing bike racks and shower rooms could earn these points. Secure bicycle storage and showers encourages employees to incorporate alterna- tive transportation options into their personal lifestyle. Furthermore, the building is located near local amenities and basic services including the Monon Trail, the cultural trail, downtown public library, and a variety of restaurants. Mass transit stops are located within walking dis- tance of the building. An electric vehicle charging station is also available. Electric vehicles have zero emissions and do not rely on fossil fuels to keep people moving. The next category to explore is Energy andAtmosphere . The most points are housed here, and it is good practice to start looking at these points early. Engagement by the team and the owner early in the process can set the project up for remarkable success down the road. An owner needs to push their team to deliver a high-performance building that integrates architecture, mechanical engineering, and commissioning. Early conver- sations between the owner and team members create alignment around aggressive energy goals. A key goal of Guidon HQ was a very low 28 kbtu/sf/yr EUI (energy use intensity) goal. The team focused on the building envelope, the mechani- cal systems, and the commissioning process to meet this objective. The Guidon HQ building envelope uses a combination of spray foam and batt insulation. These +R19 walls introduce continuous insulation that seals the perimeter and keeps costs low. The team evaluated energy models at the beginning of the process to se- lect an HVAC system. An air cooled Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV)
system was selected, to balance efficiency with first cost. This highly ef- ficient system paired with an Energy Recovery Ventilator (ERV) works to reuse all available heating /cooling in the building. Guidon HQ performs 85 percent better than an average office building and 50 percent above ASHARE 90.1 2010 baseline. There is a photovoltaic system which in- cludes 92 panels, providing 32 kW of power. This accounts for 30 percent of the building’s projected energy use over the course of the year. The commissioning process ensured the systems and envelope were working as designed. The sites team should be engaged early during the LEED Certification process. Building orientation and heat island effect can have dramatic ef- fects on the energy consumption as well. The Sustainable Sites category has points allocated for site design. Guidon HQ was bound by a zero-lot line, making achievement in this category difficult. The project earned exemplary performance in the Heat Island Reduction category. This was achieved using a white TPO membrane roof, small green roof installation, and covered parking. Engagement by the plumbing engineer is essential to meeting the points in the Water Efficiency category. They set the schedule for the fixtures which can have a big impact on the building’s performance. Owners can be reluctant to incorporate low-flow fixtures into their project for fear of complaints, but there are some good products on the market that perform well and are low flow. Guidon HQ uses ultra-low flow toilets (1.1 gallons per flush), waterless urinals, faucet aerators (0.35 gallons per minutes), and low flow shower heads (1.5 gallons per minutes). This results in a total savings of nearly 52,000 gallons per year. The interiors team will need to get more involved as design progresses to ensure that the Materials and Resource credits are set up for suc-
11
april 2020
csengineermag.com
Made with FlippingBook Annual report