Knowledge
We teach what we have learned renovating and operating these buildings. A four-class course, two talks, and the decks behind them.
How an existing building gets to zero.
A talk on the approach: the team, the envelope, the light, the people inside, and the money. Film coming.
The course. Renovating buildings to zero net energy and operational carbon neutrality.
Four classes taught for RPIC, built around 435 Indio and 47951 Westinghouse.
Class 1. The team and the envelope
- What zero net energy is
- Assembling the right team
- Who attends the first charrette, and their roles
- The first charrette: setting goals and budget
- Reducing energy use intensity
- The high-performance envelope
- HVAC design
Class 2. Light, controls, and generation
- Lighting, and how the color of light affects health and productivity
- Toplighting: south skylights against north clerestories
- Building management systems
- Managing plug load through the lease
- The second charrette: roof plan and reflected ceiling plan
- Solar and battery design
- Indoor and outdoor spaces
Class 3. Materials, health, and wellness
- Deconstruction, demolition, and reuse
- Building materials and embodied carbon
- Landscaping
- Indoor air quality, natural light, connectivity to nature
- Thermal comfort and acoustics
- The economic benefits of healthy buildings
Class 4. The economics
- The actual effect on cost, cash flow, and value to ownership
- Quantifying the value of health and wellness
- Tenant benefits and lender benefits
- How the lending and equity markets view zero net energy buildings
- The economics of renovating a fully occupied building
The talks
- TEDx. How a renovation gets to zero, and why the owner comes out ahead.
- Greenbuild, Atlanta, 2019. The same argument, told to the people who build the buildings.
The decks
The full course deck and the Greenbuild presentation are available on request. Ask for them →