Case Studies
Here are a few specific examples which demonstrate how we have applied green principles to our designs...
•Green Roofs
We are proud to say that we designed the first green roof on Utah State University's campus. This design feature was selected to provide a natural visual buffer for offices overlooking an adjacent roof surface. The green roof increases the thermal performance of the overall building envelope, provides a green educational tool, and also extends the life of the roof membrane by protecting it from UV radiation.
•Pre-insulated Panels
The Animal Teaching and Research Center utilized an innovative method to reduce material waste and improve building envelope performance. The building skin is a system of factory foamed insulated metal panels which are designed, in conjunction with continuous insulation outside the building foundation and structure, to eliminate cold bridging and mold generating condensation.
•Indoor Air Quality
In consideration of the small children and educators who occupy the Early Childhood Education and Research Center, we were careful to specify low VOC paint, carpet, floor coverings, and furniture to maintain a high quality of indoor air.
•LEED Certification
LEED Silver is the anticipated level of energy performance obtained by the Honors Housing building on the University of Utah campus. In aspiring to meet the LEED criteria, the building has demonstrated that it performs 30% better than the energy code.
•Natural Daylight for Internal Corridors
To improve the quality and energy efficiency of an internal corridor of the Early Childhood Education and Research Center, a special pop-up roof is used to create a clerestory window to fill the corridor with natural light.
•Daylight Harvesting
The office spaces and carrels areas of the Early Childhood Education and Research Center employs Daylight Harvesting, which is a special system with sensors and building logic to switch on electric lighting only when there is not adequate natural light.
•Passive Daylighting and Heating
To maximize sun light penetration in the winter and minimize it in the summer, engineered trellis structures are used to provide passive shading and daylighting for the classrooms and office windows at The Early Childhood Education and Research Center.
•Natural Playground for Education
The children who attend the Emma Eccles Jones Early Childhood Education and Research Center have a 350 feet long educational natural play-scape that facilitates exploration and learning from the natural environment.
•Light Shelves for Classrooms
Interior light shelves reflect natural daylight and create diffuse light to enhance the learning environment for classrooms in the Animal Teaching and Research Center. The design feature reduces the amount of artificial light and energy used in the building.
•Double Skin Facade
In a design for a renovation to the Biology and Natural Resources Building, it was important to maintain occupation of the building during construction; to meet this criterion and improve energy performance, a design for a double skin was developed. During cooling season, the facade allows excessive heat to be ventilated from the top of the facade system rather than be absorbed into the building. During heating season, the facade system captures solar heat and introduces it into the building.
•Efficient Envelopes
Typically, the envelope design for our buildings includes thermally broken window frames, high performance glazing, integrated air barriers, correctly positioned vapor barriers, and vented masonry cavity walls that include both rigid and batt insulation.
•High Efficiency Equipment
Our standard is to work with our engineers to specify high efficiency heating and cooling equipment to reduce the overall energy consumed. Additionally, we work to integrate economizer cycle equipment, heat recovery systems, efficient pumps and efficient fans.
•Use of Local Stone
As a method to reduce the embodied energy of construction and materials for the Watson Shelter, the exterior of the building is clad in natural stone that was quarried on-site.
•Waterless Urinals and Low Flow Fixtures
To reduce the impact on an environmentally sensitive site and a region where water is a diminishing resource, low flow and waterless fixtures were installed at Watson Shelter for Alta Ski Area.