Hickory Process and Projects
Artists For Humanity EpiCenter
LEED Platinum on a Tight Budget
Artists for Humanity is a nonprofit educational group founded in 1991 “to bridge economic, racial, and social divisions by providing at-risk youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in arts”. Their new headquarters, called the Epicenter, embodies the dreams as well as the mission of the organization. Part of the project goals were to produce an iconic building a reflection of the Artists for Humanity’s mentoring mission, to engage the students fully in every step of the design and construction process.
The EpiCenter is a 23,000 square foot art gallery, studio and office building of 3 ½ stories, with steel-frame construction and metal siding, 2" extruded polystyrene and R-15 fiberglass. The building models 102% better than ASHRAE 90.1 99 requirements using the LEED Energy Cost Budget method. It was recently awarded LEED Platinum certification. Building produces more energy value than it costs to provide heat and electricity. Urban site restrictions meant east and west walls have no glazing; south and north heavily glazed with Low-e curtain wall. It is the first naturally cooled commercial building in Boston in decades, a key milestone for sustainable construction. A 42kW photovoltaic system generates 1/3 of necessary electricity; glass walls maximize daylighting, and a tight envelope plus high-efficiency lighting all promote efficiency.
Once in place, sustainably designed buildings apply a continuous impetus for improvement in society that persists into the future. This building demonstrates that energy efficiency, environmental performance, and quality can be successfully integrated into a development and construction process that actually reduces cost substantially.
Process/Design Strategies:
A sophisticated sustainable design approach was employed to guide the entire planning, design and construction process. Hickory’s Integrated Whole Building Design approach looks at all parts of the process to reveal opportunities for improvement at the lowest possible cost. The demonstration of a naturally cooled commercial building in an urban setting is very important milestone for sustainable construction. The whole building design process begins with site design, followed by optimized envelope design, then selection of finishes and materials, distribution, and finally equipment selection. The entire building was thus designed to minimize energy demand, then Photovoltaic electricity generation was applied to an optimized building envelope.
Hickory’s 10 Steps for Sustainable Design
1. Achieve high level consensus on sustainability economics, indicators, values and goals.
2. Establish & prioritize sustainability vectors and metrics.
3. Develop a base case for comparing choices.
4. Identify highest priority opportunities.
5. Incorporate sustainability goals in the design process.
6. Maintain goals through value engineering.
7. Incorporate sustainability goals in the building process: articulate & discuss the goals.
8. Plan the process for communication, feedback, tracking, training, and flow
9. Measure the results, commission and test.
10. Follow through during occupancy.
Approaching the project from a systems engineering point of view, we know that true systems engineering engages the highest and all subsidiary levels of the system it intends to affect. To achieve this, The Hickory Consortium conducted two initial participatory sustainability-scoping workshops. The purpose of these workshops was to involve key team participants to increase understanding of the issues and define the priorities for this project.
Information and Tools
Energy 10 was used as soon as site and general program parameters were known to identify where the energy will be used in this type of building – the targets for conservation and renewables. The following tools and approaches were vital to the integrated process:
Hickory Integrated Design Process; Energy 10for schematic design; Sustainable Building Design Manual SBIC; Visual Doe 2 Used for Energy Modeling, Daylight and component testing, LEED compliance; CHPS: High Performance Schools Best Practices Manual; California Design Methods and Guidelines for Natural Ventilation; FSEC Natural Cooling Manual; RETSCREEN International Photovoltaic Analysis
Products and Systems
Innovative structural and wall systems are part of the design for sustainability and durability. The steel structure is isolated from the wall sheathing and framing to avoid thermal bridging, with the roof predominantly pitched to optimize the collection of photovoltaic energy. The 42 KWp grid connected PV system produces more energy than needed during sunny weather, and can provide emergency electricity. Glazing on south and north facades maximizes daylighting. Durability is enhanced with exposed concrete floors throughout and considerable application of exposed structure as finish. Steel framing and stainless corrugated cladding is used for its heat reflectivity, durability, high recycled content, and visual appeal in its unpainted finish.
Project Results/Lessons learned
The project is a demonstration of a very high level of sustainability (LEED Platinum) on a low budget. Innovative components include cooling avoidance with night-time flushing and ceiling fans for air movement and is notable for achieving comfort without refrigerant based cooling. The PV array, mounted above and entirely covering the roof , doubles as a heat-reflective shield. Optimized day-lighting and energy conservation, energy-efficient lighting system with daylight dimming controls and floor plan featuring open spaces with walls between interior studio spaces of clear acrylic to enable daylight to penetrate. Rainwater is harvested and used for irrigation. To date, the building has performed extremely well, saving approximately 75% of energy relative to the base case. Energy cost savings may approach 100% due to the high value of solar electricity and associated Green Certificates (currently $.06 per kWH). Notably, due to its sustainable features, the building has become a favorite Boston venue for meetings and receptions.
