Energy and Sustainability in Architectural Design
- Leah Gearhart
- Jan 17
- 5 min read
In our last post, we talked about how important it is to design industrial spaces that can adapt to future changes, blend in with the community, and encourage healthy human collaboration. Today, we want to highlight another key part of our design approach: making sure our buildings use energy efficiently and are environmentally friendly. These are essential to modern industrial design as they reduce operational costs and contribute to environmental efforts. Let's take a closer look at how our building designs incorporate energy-saving techniques and sustainable practices to be more efficient and forward-thinking.
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Construction's Impact on Carbon Emissions
Construction has a significant impact on carbon emissions, accounting for nearly 40% of global emissions. This makes it the largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Taking small steps to reduce this impact, especially considering the large amount of materials required for industrial building construction, can make a significant difference.
As more industrial processes become automated, the importance of knowledge-based work and collaboration by people increases. Consequently, traditional warehouses, originally intended for equipment storage, should also be designed as healthy work environments for people. Designing with people in mind can prolong the life of a warehouse, making it easier to adapt for future uses and thus reduce the carbon emissions and waste associated with demolition and reconstruction.
Passive Energy Design: A Key to Efficiency
One important principle of designing for energy efficiency is to use passive energy strategies. These are systems that reduce the need for external energy by using the building’s natural environment to maintain comfortable temperatures and lower energy use. Our design uses several passive strategies to reduce energy usage:
Natural Daylight
Materials and millwork are best viewed in natural light, but direct sunlight can damage them. To address this, we minimized windows on the south elevation to avoid direct light in storage areas and used north-facing windows and prismatic skylights in the warehouse and office spaces to provide even, indirect daylight throughout the day in areas where people are concentrated.
We've also installed skylights in the workshop areas to bring in natural light where people work with machine-fabricated materials (see daylight study attachments below – click to expand).
The windows are made of insulated and tinted glass with special coatings to let in visible light while blocking out harmful ultraviolet and infrared light, which helps to reduce heat inside the building. We've also limited the number of windows on the east and west sides to minimize heat and glare, while maximizing the windows on the north side in the office areas.
Thermal Efficiency
Enhanced insulation throughout the building exceeds local code requirements, making the building more thermally efficient. This helps maintain interior temperatures, reducing the need for heating and cooling.
Sustainable Landscaping
Native plants and vegetation have been specified to minimize irrigation needs, further reducing our environmental footprint.
Other Miscellaneous Design Uses
We’ve incorporated a number of additional amenities and fixtures that will contribute to energy efficiency and purposeful use of our space:
Bike racks and electric vehicle charging stations
LED light fixtures
Additional amenities include a large communal break room, outdoor seating, and a mother’s room that, when not being used for its primary purpose, also serves as a wellness and restorative space.
Active Energy Systems
In addition to passive strategies, we’ve integrated several active energy systems to make the building more energy-efficient:
Solar panels: Solar panels will provide renewable energy to the facility, reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. By harnessing solar power, we can generate electricity directly from sunlight, offsetting a portion of our energy use.
High-efficiency heat pump HVAC system with heat recovery: This system utilizes advanced heat recovery technology to capture and reuse heat generated by process equipment and spray booths, significantly improving energy efficiency.
Smart energy management systems: These systems monitor and adjust energy usage in real time, ensuring that the facility operates as efficiently as possible. The system can identify areas of excess energy consumption and automatically make adjustments to reduce waste.
Sustainable Building Materials and Practices
Our facility’s design goes beyond just energy systems—we’ve also taken great care to select sustainable building materials that lower our environmental impact:
Zinc cladding: The office portion of the building will be clad in zinc, a material that is 100% recyclable and can be reused indefinitely. Zinc is also low maintenance and self-healing, as it doesn’t rust or corrode, making it both an environmentally responsible and durable choice. It is known to last 100 years when installed and maintained properly, and is corrugated to give it structural rigidity, allowing us to reduce the gauge/thickness and thus use less material overall.
Precast concrete: Precast concrete is used for the manufacturing volume because it’s recyclable and its production generates less waste than other construction methods. Each panel is specifically made for the project and any waste generated can be recycled. Precast panels will be fabricated with aggregate sourced locally to reduce emissions from transportation. Precast concrete is also fabricated off site and can be erected quickly, minimizing noise, dust, and associated emissions. It is durable and long-lasting, requiring low maintenance and is an efficient use of materials and its upgraded insulation increases our R-value (the ability of insulation material to resist heat flow).
High-performance glass: We’ve used insulated and tinted glass with low-e coatings to maximize daylight transmission while reducing solar heat gain. This helps minimize the need for heating and cooling, while still allowing ample natural light into the building.
White membrane roof: The facility’s roof features a white membrane that reduces heat absorption, mitigating the urban heat island effect and lowering the building's cooling load.
Measuring Our Energy Efficiency
To ensure that the facility performs as designed, we’ll be using several performance metrics to measure energy efficiency over time. These include tracking:
Energy usage: Monitoring the building’s total energy consumption and comparing it to our projections.
Solar panel output: Assessing the effectiveness of our solar energy system.
We’ll also continuously monitor and adjust our energy needs through smart energy management systems, allowing us to fine-tune operations and optimize performance as the building and its uses evolve.
Designing for the Future
By integrating both passive and active energy systems, choosing sustainable materials, and using advanced construction practices, we’re designing a facility that aligns with our vision for the future—one that is environmentally responsible, operationally efficient, and adaptable to change. As we move forward with the project into the construction phase, we plan to learn a lot from these experiences, helping to lead the way toward a more sustainable and energy-efficient industrial sector.
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