AIA Portland First to Present 2030 Challenge Design Awards

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Built Winner: Opsis Architecture
Built Winner: Opsis Architecture
Built Winner: Opsis Architecture
Built Winner: Opsis Architecture
As Designed Winner: SERA Architects
As Designed Winner: SERA Architects
As Designed Winner: SERA Architects
As Designed Winner: SERA Architects

Architecture 2030, in collaboration with AIA Portland and their Committee on the Environment (COTE) and the BetterBricks Initiative of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, presented the first ever 2030 Challenge Design Awards in recognition of design excellence towards meeting the 2030 Challenge reduction targets. The awards were presented at Portland AIA COTE’s annual Green Champion Summit. Winners were selected from projects submitted for the AIA Portland’s 2010 Design Awards.

This year’s entries to the AIA Portland Design Awards included many excellent projects with projected energy usage that meets or exceeds the 2030 Challenge targets. In addition to reduced energy consumption, which is the hallmark of meeting the 2030 Challenge, submissions were required to include a calculation of operational carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions- building on the previous two years when the calculations were optional. For the general Design Awards, jurors were made aware of these CO2 calculations so to consider them along with other design elements.

The following Portland 2030 Challenge Design Awards were presented at Portland AIA COTE’s annual Green Champion Summit:

As Built Category Winner:
Opsis Architecture for Hood River Middle School

As Built Category Runner-Up:
Hennebery Eddy Architects for Willamette University Ford Hall

As Designed Category Winner:
SERA Architects for Edith Green/Wendell Wyatt Federal Building

As Designed Category Runner Up:
Hennebery Eddy Architects for PCC Newberg Center

AIA Portland’s adoption of the 2030 Challenge design targets and its incorporation of the CO2 emissions calculations into the competition demonstrate a commitment to a low-carbon future and step forward in understanding the full meaning of design excellence.

Architecture 2030 looks forward to seeing all AIA components adopt 2030 Challenge targets as part of their competitions.

Targeting 100! Envisions a High Performance Hospital Meeting 2030 Challenge Targets

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Buildings in healthcare use an immense amount of energy; approximately 4% of all energy consumed in the United States today, and hospitals are responsible for an enormous amount of greenhouse gas emissions; one average sized hospital emits approximately 18,000 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually.

In their Targeting 100! study, researchers at University of Washington’s Integrated Design Lab in collaboration with NBBJ Architects, Solarc Architecture and Engineering, TBD Consultants, Cameron MacAllister, Mahlum Architects and Mortenson Construction with support from the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance’s (NEEA) BetterBricks Initiative describe how a team can design a hospital that meets the 60% reduction in energy use currently called for by the 2030 Challenge, at little additional capital cost. In order to meet this energy goal in the Pacific Northwest, a project must have a simulated energy performance of less than 108 KBtu/SF year. The project team set an EUI of 100 for its goal, which gave the project it’s name: “Target 100.”

See the results now in the University of Washington Integrated Design Lab’s Targeting100! Full Report.  

And, for another perspective, check out Imagining a Regenerative Healthcare System by Cary Cohen and Robin Guenther.
Scandanavian Hospitals, like Norway’s Akershus University Hospital above, have provided models for researchers at the University of Washington Integrated Design Lab in their Targeting100! Study.

How to Cut Energy Use by Half in Commercial Buildings

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How to Cut Energy Use in Half in Commercial Buildings – DOE, NREL Reports and the CRE Solution

The U.S. Department of Energy and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has recently added large office buildings and large hospitals to its inventory of technical reports that provide recommendations on how to achieve a 50% energy savings as compared to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 (prior reports include General Merchandise, Grocery Store, Lodging and Medium Offices). This reduction below code will achieve buildings that meet the current 60% reduction target called for by the 2030 Challenge.

Taken together with Architecture 2030’s recent release of the CRE Solution, a proposed 3-year, tax deduction program that encourages commercial property owners to complete substantive efficiency renovation projects, these DOE technical reports offer promising recommendations for achieving the transformation of commercial buildings in the U.S.  The CRE Solution’s deduction would be granted on the full value of qualifying efficiency improvements up to a maximum amount. It is designed to be fully transferable to a new owner and tradeable for cash for the life of the deduction. The CRE Solution would amend the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction (26 U.S.C. 179(d)) from $1.80 per sq.ft. to a range of $3.00 to $9.00 per sq.ft. for meeting energy reduction targets seen below:

View the first Technical Support Document, Strategies for 50% Energy Savings in Large Office Buildings (pdf), the second Technical Support Document: Large Hospital 50% Energy Savings (pdf) and NREL’s prior reports listed above available on www.nrel.gov. For more information, visit the Building Technologies Program web site.