Seminar 04 -- Designing, Operating and Living at a Net Zero Energy and Net Zero Water Building

Track: Net Zero Energy Buildings: The International Race to 2030
Sponsor: 7.6 Building Energy Performance
Chair: Hyojin Kim, Ph.D., Member, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
Since the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) began operating the Brock Environmental Center in Virginia Beach, VA in 2014, Brock has produced 80% more energy than it has consumed and achieved Living Building Challenge (LBC) certification in April 2016, which requires net positive energy, net positive water and net zero waste. However, there have been bumps along the way. Stakeholders worked together to tune building systems and gathered countless lessons. This seminar aims to share those lessons learned from designing, operating and living at Brock from the three unique perspectives, including an owner, an engineer and occupants.

1. Owner's Perspective
Mary Tod Winchester, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Annapolis, MD
This presentation provides an owner's perspective on operating a net positive energy and water building. This includes an overview of the project, including goals, design, completion and operation of the building; the cultural shifts of staff who came from a traditional closed office environment and moved to a net zero open office environment; findings from formal polling about staff satisfaction that uncovered both the challenges and tangible benefits that have emerged since opening; and how building green has enhanced the organization's mission.

2. Engineer's Perspective
Brian Coffield, P.E., Associate Member, SmithGroupJJR, Washington, DC
This presentation provides the challenges and lessons from designing and operating a net zero energy building from an engineer's perspective. This includes how daily energy reports and dashboards were used to diagnose problems; defining the energy implications of rainwater harvesting and how to further reduce that energy use; how operational data can inform assumptions for future designs; how to balance staff comfort with energy conservation; and the effectiveness of natural ventilation in mixed-humid climates.

3. Occupants' Perspectives
Hyojin Kim, Ph.D., Member, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC
This presentation highlights the results of an effort to evaluate energy and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) performance of a net zero energy building from occupants' perspectives during its first year of operation. The assessment was performed based on the ASHRAE Performance Measurement Protocols (PMP) for Commercial Buildings. This includes an occupant IEQ satisfaction survey along with continuous measurements of selected energy and IEQ variables with occupancy. Lessons learned from the assessment are presented, including evidence that a net zero energy building can deliver high standards of comfort to their occupants.

Presented: June 25, 2017, 11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Run Time: 90 min.

This is a zip file that consists of PowerPoint slides synchronized with the audio-recording of the speaker (recorded presentation), PDF files of the slides, and audio only (mp3) for each presentation.