Owner
Starting at the Bottom: Raised Access Flooring
Owner: SAP Americas
The McMorrow Sustainable Facilities Management Report, February 2011
SAP Americas opted to put all wiring and HVAC underfloor, choosing Tate Access Floors for the job. The results were better than expected. The floor-to-floor height on the original headquarters building is 16 feet, 6 inches—and the new building’s floor-to-floor height measures a mere 14 feet, which amounts to a 20%+ difference. "Because of the lowered height of the building, we saved substantially on construction costs," explains Brian Barrett, Senior Project Manager, SAP Global Facilities. "We saved money on the cost of concrete and steel and on labor."
Between the raised access flooring and other energy-efficient features (including geothermal wells for heating and ice chillers and evaporation cooling towers), the new building has its predecessor beat. "Both buildings have exteriors that are about 80% glass," says Barrett, "which can increase energy costs. The old building uses approximately 2.5 kilowatts per square foot— the new one uses only 1 kilowatt per square foot."
Another benefit to raised access flooring is that diffusers located throughout the floor give employees individual control over their workspace temperature. "At SAP, about 82% of our space is open office," says Barrett. Employees appreciate being able to control their environment—as does the facilities team. "We don’t get all those constant phone calls," jokes Barrett.
A Net Zero Office Today
Owner: Net Zero Co2urt, St. Louis, MO
MetropolisMag.com, November 2010
In a ten-month long virtual design charette, HOK and the energy and daylighting consultant The Weidt Group set out to prove that it is possible to use currently available technology and build a commercially viable, Net Zero Emissions office building. The final design, called Net Zero Co2urt, requires 76% less energy than a comparable office building. The shape and orientation of the building use the site's environmental conditions to advantage, taking some of the load off of the heating and ventilation systems. Optimizing the use of daylight reduces energy consumption for lighting. The floors of the building have been put to work: they carry both a radiant heating system as well as an underfloor air distribution system.
A Higher Standard: The Christman Building
Owner: Christman Company
ED+C, June 2010
In an effort to expand the floor plate of the building, the owner and the architect devised a plan to enclose the space between the wings of the U-shaped building with an end wall and skylight, creating a 1,056-square-foot atrium that combines both historic and new construction...... "As we began to work the plan for this area, we uncovered upturned beams that protrude as much as 12 inches into the floor of the space above," Smith says. "Fortunately, the access floor enabled us to bridge right over these beams, saving a substantial amount of money by avoiding a rather robust structural modification to the building that would have been necessary to eliminate the beams."
Web Exclusive: Generating Enthusiasm for Green
Director: Gary Connett, Great River Energy
ED+C, July 2009
“This building demonstrates that the construction of an energy-efficient building is not cost prohibitive,” Connett said. “Since it opened a year ago, thousands of people, ranging from architects and builders to curious area residents, have toured the facility, learning firsthand how to grow and build responsibly.” Interactive screens in the lobby show real-time data on energy savings throughout the building and production from the wind turbine and photovoltaic panels. Other applications include system animations to illustrate how the building’s features work and recommendations for environmental savings in people’s own homes. “And in the end, that is what we wanted to do -- build a state-of-the-art facility that displays the benefits of energy efficiency, sustainability and conservation and changes the way people think about sustainable building design.”
In addition, workstations are designed with lower walls to allow more daylight into desk areas, and all offices have a windowed wall to allow the passage of natural light. Where artificial lighting is required, the building uses high-efficiency ultra-low mercury fluorescent lights. “As a result of daylight harvesting and the related technologies installed in the building, we use approximately 40 percent less energy for lighting than similarly sized buildings that use standard technology,” Connett said.
Visual Tour of a LEED Gold Office Building
Property Owner: Bick Group
CSE, April 2009
Rick Tinucci, the author of this article, is a senior vice president at Bick Group with more than 35 years of experience in the building controls industry. He is a member of the Building Owners and Managers Assn., ASHRAE, and the U.S. Green Building Council.
Nissan goes green in new US headquarters
Property Owner: Nissan
Fox News March 2008
Air conditioning and heat are controlled through outlets at each work station. "You heat the people and not the space," said Rob Traynham, the company's director of corporate services."
Green’ skyscrapers the next big thing (subscription necessary)
Property Owner: Bank of America Tower, Mark Nicholls
The Herald-Times (subscription) - Bloomington, IN March 2007
"Inside, an innovative underfloor climate system will allow workers to control the temperature of their workspace. The new system will replace conventional pressurized air ducts, which are inefficient and can harbor germs."
Back to What Experts Are Saying
Owner: SAP Americas
The McMorrow Sustainable Facilities Management Report, February 2011
SAP Americas opted to put all wiring and HVAC underfloor, choosing Tate Access Floors for the job. The results were better than expected. The floor-to-floor height on the original headquarters building is 16 feet, 6 inches—and the new building’s floor-to-floor height measures a mere 14 feet, which amounts to a 20%+ difference. "Because of the lowered height of the building, we saved substantially on construction costs," explains Brian Barrett, Senior Project Manager, SAP Global Facilities. "We saved money on the cost of concrete and steel and on labor."
Between the raised access flooring and other energy-efficient features (including geothermal wells for heating and ice chillers and evaporation cooling towers), the new building has its predecessor beat. "Both buildings have exteriors that are about 80% glass," says Barrett, "which can increase energy costs. The old building uses approximately 2.5 kilowatts per square foot— the new one uses only 1 kilowatt per square foot."
Another benefit to raised access flooring is that diffusers located throughout the floor give employees individual control over their workspace temperature. "At SAP, about 82% of our space is open office," says Barrett. Employees appreciate being able to control their environment—as does the facilities team. "We don’t get all those constant phone calls," jokes Barrett.
A Net Zero Office Today
Owner: Net Zero Co2urt, St. Louis, MO
MetropolisMag.com, November 2010
In a ten-month long virtual design charette, HOK and the energy and daylighting consultant The Weidt Group set out to prove that it is possible to use currently available technology and build a commercially viable, Net Zero Emissions office building. The final design, called Net Zero Co2urt, requires 76% less energy than a comparable office building. The shape and orientation of the building use the site's environmental conditions to advantage, taking some of the load off of the heating and ventilation systems. Optimizing the use of daylight reduces energy consumption for lighting. The floors of the building have been put to work: they carry both a radiant heating system as well as an underfloor air distribution system.
A Higher Standard: The Christman Building
Owner: Christman Company
ED+C, June 2010
In an effort to expand the floor plate of the building, the owner and the architect devised a plan to enclose the space between the wings of the U-shaped building with an end wall and skylight, creating a 1,056-square-foot atrium that combines both historic and new construction...... "As we began to work the plan for this area, we uncovered upturned beams that protrude as much as 12 inches into the floor of the space above," Smith says. "Fortunately, the access floor enabled us to bridge right over these beams, saving a substantial amount of money by avoiding a rather robust structural modification to the building that would have been necessary to eliminate the beams."
Web Exclusive: Generating Enthusiasm for Green
Director: Gary Connett, Great River Energy
ED+C, July 2009
“This building demonstrates that the construction of an energy-efficient building is not cost prohibitive,” Connett said. “Since it opened a year ago, thousands of people, ranging from architects and builders to curious area residents, have toured the facility, learning firsthand how to grow and build responsibly.” Interactive screens in the lobby show real-time data on energy savings throughout the building and production from the wind turbine and photovoltaic panels. Other applications include system animations to illustrate how the building’s features work and recommendations for environmental savings in people’s own homes. “And in the end, that is what we wanted to do -- build a state-of-the-art facility that displays the benefits of energy efficiency, sustainability and conservation and changes the way people think about sustainable building design.”
In addition, workstations are designed with lower walls to allow more daylight into desk areas, and all offices have a windowed wall to allow the passage of natural light. Where artificial lighting is required, the building uses high-efficiency ultra-low mercury fluorescent lights. “As a result of daylight harvesting and the related technologies installed in the building, we use approximately 40 percent less energy for lighting than similarly sized buildings that use standard technology,” Connett said.
Visual Tour of a LEED Gold Office Building
Property Owner: Bick Group
CSE, April 2009
Rick Tinucci, the author of this article, is a senior vice president at Bick Group with more than 35 years of experience in the building controls industry. He is a member of the Building Owners and Managers Assn., ASHRAE, and the U.S. Green Building Council.
Nissan goes green in new US headquarters
Property Owner: Nissan
Fox News March 2008
Air conditioning and heat are controlled through outlets at each work station. "You heat the people and not the space," said Rob Traynham, the company's director of corporate services."
Green’ skyscrapers the next big thing (subscription necessary)
Property Owner: Bank of America Tower, Mark Nicholls
The Herald-Times (subscription) - Bloomington, IN March 2007
"Inside, an innovative underfloor climate system will allow workers to control the temperature of their workspace. The new system will replace conventional pressurized air ducts, which are inefficient and can harbor germs."
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