Contract - September 2011 - (Page 55)

From the entrance of the Washington, D.C. offices of global architecture and design firm Perkins+Will, the impression is immediate. A dark stripe along the floor leads the eye through the spacious, well-appointed reception gallery flanked by the frosted glass panels of a large meeting room to the right and views into an impeccable, well-stocked library to the left. The entryway experience, as well as the highly functional workspaces beyond, clearly identifies this as a firm that knows how to blend light, space, and materiality. There is an entire dimension, however, that’s invisible to the eye, save for the U.S. Green Building Council logo beside the entryway door. The renovated space in an eight-floor office building in northwest Washington, D.C., has earned the penultimate USGBC certification—Platinum in the LEED® for Commercial Interiors category. That entrance runway of dark wood flooring? From the tight grain and luster, it could be teak. But it is instead stained, high-endurance (and readily renewable) bamboo. Throughout the 96-person office, elegance intertwines with environmental sensitivity and functionality. LEED as a baseline “Seeking LEED Platinum accreditation was non-negotiable,” says Stephen Manlove, Associate AIA, LEED AP. “We see our office as a living lab of sustainability and needed to experience the same design features and sustainable initiatives we are recommending to our clients,” says the managing director of the D.C. office and de facto client. After all, there is no better way to educate clients on environmental attributes and efficiency than to lead by example. “As a physical embodiment of the well-known rating system, the office shows that high-end design can be very sustainable.” The firm’s offices occupy the top floor of a building that itself earned LEED Existing Building Platinum. Its exterior windows, full-height interior atrium, floor plan, and solar orientation were set factors for the design team in planning for maximum natural light and the solar energy–based system that supplies hot water to the offices. “The space makes use of daylight harvesting,” says David Cordell, IIDA, LEED AP, who served as the project sustainability coordinator. “Perimeter daylight sensors respond to the amount of daylight in the space by dimming the LED and fluorescent fixtures. All of these Five Sustainable Design Lessons From This Project • Bring the contractor and engineers into the project at the outset, before site selection, if possible. • Always consider design excellence when identifying sustainable strategies, and vice versa. • When monitoring facility performance for USGBC LEED compliance, select software systems that monitor many individual areas across multiple energy-consumption variables so that the data can be used in internal analysis and client presentations as well. • As you fine-tune your systems against prescribed building-performance metrics, also ask building occupants about their (quantifiable, if possible) satisfaction levels. Dark-stained bamboo creates an eyecatching runway-like stripe in the reception area. • For an existing-building interior renovation certain set parameters cannot be adjusted, such as access to sunlight and views, thermal conductance in the frame and fenestration, and seasonal solar gain. www.contractdesign.com contract september 2011 55 http://www.contractdesign.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Contract - September 2011

Contract - September 2011
Contents
Editorial
Industry News
Product Briefs: Sustainable
Product Focus: Here Comes the Sun
Product Focus: Cream of the Crop
Memory Museum
Triple Threat
Mission Sustainable
Model of Sustainability
Desert Oasis
LEED by Example
Cooking Light
Trends: The Resilient Workplace
Ideas: Chair History
Designers Select: Boardroom Furnishings
Sources
Ad Index
Perspectives: Steven M. Davis, Faia, Aedas

Contract - September 2011