Six Planning Strategies that Save Energy
Christie Coffin, LEED® AP, The Design Partnership
Strategic planning can reduce energy costs. Six planning strategies that save energy will be described and illustrated with practical examples:
1) Decrease gross to net factor: Using the IBC and NFPA protocol, and careful deployment of space, we can eliminate space that does not support science. At the University of California, San Fransisco (UCSF) and the University of California, Merced (UCM) our recent laboratory remodels have all but eliminated unused spaces such as corridors.
2) Zone building 24/7: Plan the building so that the whole building does not have to run at 100 percent to support one research team that works in the middle of the night. This approach is not as easy to implement as Strategy 1, but promises to help mechanical engineers use setbacks more effectively.
3) Zone functions laboratory and non-laboratory: We usually try to zone so that offices, conferences, and break rooms can take advantage of natural ventilation, fewer air changes, recirculated air, and other lower energy systems. In the Santa Barbara offices desk spaces are clustered adjacent to laboratories, have under window radiators, high ceilings, paddle fans, and double hung windows to support natural ventilation. Any space taken off the laboratory system can reduce building energy use.
4) Share, don’t duplicate: Many laboratory features and special equipment rooms can be shared. This is not always practical. We commonly plan modular laboratory supports that make sharing practical.
5) Concentrated spaciousness: Being frugal does not mean forgetting the importance of making a place for scientists with panache. At HSW 4 (UCSF) this spot is seen as a crossroads, concentrated, and multifunction.
6) Use outdoor spaces: Not all circulation or social interaction needs enclosed conditioned space. Our new laboratory for the Department of Vetrans Affairs in Palo Alto, California will have a courtyard at its core, with two to three season use. Even in less mild climates like Merced, two season use (spring and fall) is both practical and desirable. In Santa Barbara we used outdoor corridors that are really verandas.
In our enthusiasm for new technology we often forget that there are low-cost ways to make energy budgets stretch to support more and safer science environments. Appropriate planning strategies can result in significant energy savings and often save on first costs as well.
Biography:
Christie Coffin is a senior architect planner with The Design Partnership in San Francisco. She is a licensed architect in California and Oregon, a LEED Accredited Professional, and holds a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) certificate.
Ms. Coffin has concentrated her career on understanding the relationships between behavior and place and putting this understanding into practice in the design of public facilities.
Ms. Coffin's professional work has included planning and designing laboratories for the University of Oregon; Yang Ming National University; Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan; the University of California, Davis, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Merced, and San Francisco; the Department of Veterans Affairs at Palo Alto and Seattle; and Chiron Corporation.
In addition, Ms. Coffin has worked extensively planning and designing health care, mental healthcare facilities, and places for children including an award-winning grade school and a children’s shelter. The Grossmont Intensive Care Units won the top national prize given by intensive care doctors and nurses for support of effective intensive medical treatment. Rosa Parks School won the top national prize for social design in 2000.
Ms. Coffin has taught architecture at the University of California, Berkeley; California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and the University of Oregon.