Arch | Nexus SAC
Sacramento, Calif.
Region新利18备用加利福尼亚州
Green Project
Project Team
业主/设计公司建筑联系
General Contractor推销一个建筑商
Civil EngineerWarren Consulting Engineers Inc.
结构工程师Miyamoto International Inc.
MEP EngineersGlumac; 2020 Engineering
SubcontractorsACCO Engineered Systems; Royal Electric
In aspiring to create the first structure in California to meet the Living Building Challenge—and become one of only a handful of such projects around the globe—the team behind the Sacramento offices for Architectural Nexus confronted a steep learning curve. Yet among all the project participants, only net-positive water systems designer 2020 Engineering had worked on a living building before.
To rapidly get up to speed, the team came together at a “level of integrated and collaborative design that was far higher on this project than any other that we’ve ever done,” says Brian Cassil, principal with Architectural Nexus. “The contractor, engineers and architects were there from the very beginning, from the time the land was purchased, and we met on site before pencil went to paper. All stakeholders were there to vet ideas, brainstorm and look out at the far horizon for challenges that we may incur.”
If certified by the International Living Future Institute (currently pending), Arch Nexus will also become the world’s first reuse of an existing building to achieve the living building challenge.
Market One Builders的项目开发总监James Fitzgerald说，识别出符合红色列表的材料（没有环境有害材料而制造的那些没有环境有害材料）是该团队的最大挑战。“我们必须成为现场的警察部队，以确保批准该地点的所有材料。我们能够与一些制造商合作实际更改其制造过程，因此可以被视为符合红名单。有些人愿意，有些不是。”
In one such instance, paint on exterior metal panels included banned chemicals. At the team’s request, the manufacturer engineered a new paint that was red-list compliant, and the company now has a more environ-mentally sustainable product to introduce into the market, says the team.
The building’s photovoltaic array generates more power than is consumed through daylighting, operable windows and efficient workstations that use one-fifth of the power of a typical setup. The biggest impact came through engagement with building occupants, helping to reduce energy consumption by 20% to 30% below predicted models (see chart below). The team bolstered tenant education efforts and encouraged everyone’s participation in the building operations. “We set out on a quest to try and address the people factor with buildings from a holistic approach,” Cassil says. “That has led us on a path of rediscovery for our firm and the way we approach architecture.” Early involvement by the local electrical utility also proved valuable in educating the team on incentive programs, net metering and energy financial models.
Mindful of ongoing drought in California, designers included a host of water-saving strategies, including composting toilets with zero sewer waste, a rainwater irrigation system and a green wall irrigated by gray water. The team also installed a system to convert rainwater to potable water but cannot operate it until California changes its water permitting laws.
在8200平方英尺,这个项目被有些小巫见大巫了the other contenders in the Green Project category. But its lack of size didn’t deter judges from pointing out how much the project moves the needle forward on sustainable construction. One Best of the Best judge said that “we have a lot more to learn for the future from Arch Nexus than any of the other green projects. It sends a message, regardless of its scale, that this can be done in a way that is affordable, achievable and safe.”
