The Northeastern Chapter of the California Society for Healthcare Engineering presents

Central Plant Electrification Requirements, Trends, and Equipment

May 11, 2022 from 5:30 to 7:30 PM

Architectural Nexus, 930 R St Sacramento CA

Presented by Aaron Wintersmith, Director of Sustainability, Capital Engineering and Jeffrey Jerwers, Account Executive, Johnson Controls, Inc.

This event is focused on the electrification of central plants. That is, the reorganization of plants to eliminate fossil fuel use and replace it with electric sources. Content will include regulations and organizational goals that are driving the trend of Central Plant electrification. Presenters will share technical solutions that successfully re-organize central plants using Heat Pump chillers, Air Source Heat Pumps, and similar technologies. Case study success and challenges will be presented for examination and discussion.

REGISTER HERE.

Trim Tab, the official blog of the International Living Future Institute, currently features a piece by Juliet Grable, the author of Regenerative Retrofit: California’s first Living Building. In this article, Grable shares insight into the ILFI’s latest book, specifically the lessons of resilience offered by the Arch Nexus Sac building. Grable addresses how Arch Nexus Sacramento and Arch Nexus Salt Lake City have taken measures to be prepared for potential disruptions through a variety of resilience measures. Resilience has recently become a buzzword, but as stated by Grable “It strikes me that the whole point of resilience is to be able to weather the unexpected—whether that be a drought, an earthquake, or something as extraordinary as the Covid-19 pandemic.” Read the full article here Trim Tab: Arch Nexus Sac Offers Lessons in Resilience.

In 2015, we set out to find a new space for our growing business in Sacramento. As we sought a location that would provide equitable amenities as compared to our Salt Lake City office, we decided to take the opportunity to do something bold. Our aim was to rehabilitate an existing building by turning it into something that closely aligned with our own core values of inspiration, stewardship, and regeneration. For this cause, we embraced the Living Building Challenge. This challenge has lead us on a journey of discovery that has spanned the past three years. Today, it is with great pleasure that we are able to announce that Arch | Nexus SAC is Living Certified!

This represents the 19th Living Certified project in the world by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). Of those 19, Arch | Nexus SAC is the first Living Certified project in California and the first anywhere that is an adaptive re-use of an existing building. Regarding this accomplishment, Arch Nexus President Kenner Kingston stated, “This building is evidence of how the gap that has evolved between people and nature can be bridged through architecture, rather than divided by it.”

Along the road to certification we encountered many challenges. Some we had anticipated such as the heavy burden of documenting the makeup of the many materials found in the building. Given our experience with occupant engagement we were also aware of the potential challenges that existed in achieving net-positive energy in a high-performance office building dominated by plug loads. Perhaps the most daunting obstacle that the project team envisioned was the imperative to achieve net-positive water in a State dominated by recurring droughts.

There were also a few surprising challenges that we didn’t expect. We didn’t anticipate that an air test to measure particulate matter inside our naturally ventilated building would take place immediately after a series of devastating fires in the region (fueled by climate change). We also didn’t expect to form such a strong partnership with the local utility district; SMUD representatives were present at our very first design charrette and they have been a tremendously valuable partner in making this building a reality.

Through these, and many other experiences, we learned an incredible amount about how to design and operate buildings that are a part of the natural ecosystem. Buildings have, and continue to be, designed, built, and operated in ways that harm our environment. The past couple of decades have seen a gradual trend in design and construction that has moved our industry towards doing less harm, but the idea of making buildings that regenerate the environment and operate as thriving, living entities is something that remains very novel.

Being the first to do anything is not easy. It is our hope that by demonstrating how a Living Certified Building is designed, built, and operated regenerative architecture can move out of the novel and into the norm.

On Friday, April 6th, leaders from Arch Nexus and MarketOne Builders were in attendance at the Best of the Best Awards ceremony to receive the Green Project of the Year Award from Engineering News Record.

In accepting the Green Project of the Year Award, Arch Nexus President Kenner Kingston said, “these teams worked tirelessly for the last three years. This project was first conceived in 2015 and we are thankful to realize this opportunity.” He also added this challenge to the leadership in attendance by asking everyone to “consider the impact that your business has and what you can do to lift your values.”

To read ENR’s full story on Arch | Nexus SAC, please click here.

The latest edition of ENR Magazine spotlights the projects that have been honored with the Best of the Best Awards. The piece written about Arch|Nexus Sac (Best Green Project) highlights the intense level of integrated and collaborative design involved in the process. The article also describes how engagement with building occupants significantly reduced energy consumption. One Best of the Best judge is quoted saying: “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. The full article can be read here.

From the time that Arch | Nexus SAC was under construction and through the present we have scheduled and hosted tours for anyone who is interested in seeing our regenerative office up close. On March 1st we will open our office to the public for anyone to tour our building without the need for scheduling. Please drop by our office at 930 R Street where tours will be conducted every hour that highlight the aspects of our Living Building such as the net-positive energy system, the net-positive water system, the occupant engagement platform, and a variety of other features that make our office unique.

We are very pleased to announce that Arch | Nexus SAC has become the first building in the California Central Valley to obtain a Reveal Label from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI). Reveal is a credible independent source for highlighting buildings with outstanding energy performance. The label is based off of 12 months of verified energy consumption data, and communicates a building’s energy performance in an elegant, easy-to-understand graphic. Reveal illustrates three important metrics for measuring energy performance: energy use intensity (EUI), zero energy performance index (zEPI), and energy use reduction from baseline.

The impressive results as indicated in the Arch | Nexus SAC Reveal Label are the result of a variety of design measures such as abundant daylighting, highly efficient workstations, and strategically placed operable windows that bring in fresh air. These measures, along with many others, result in a building that uses 57% less energy than an average office building. All of the energy (and then some!) that is used is offset by the on-site solar array making Arch | Nexus SAC a net-positive energy building.

To learn more about the Reveal Label please visit living-future.org/reveal/

After months of scrutiny, Engineering News-Record has announced that Arch | Nexus SAC is the winner of the Best of the Best Green Project Competition! We are honored to have been awarded this, our firm’s first ever national award.

The competition began last March with a call for entries to the AEC industry, which resulted in approximately 700 industry project teams submitting their work to the regional Best Projects competitions. In each of the 10 regions, the editors assembled panels of judges to select the regional winners in 20 categories. In October of last year Arch | Nexus SAC was selected as the Northern California Region’s Green Project of the Year.

Once the regional winners were chosen, the top winners in each category from each region moved up to the national competition. A brand new set of judges from across the country and from all walks of the industry examined each project in an effort to distinguish the best from the best in terms of teamwork, safety, overcoming challenges, innovation and quality. The projects and judges will be featured in more depth in the March 5, 2018 issue of ENR.

To learn more about the ENR Best of the Best Competition Click here.

Our Sacramento Office building, Arch | Nexus SAC has been honored by ENR California as the best Green Project for 2017! Features considered by the awards committee include net positive energy, water re-use, building re-use, healthy materials and revitalization of the neighborhood. To read more about the project and this regional award, head over to ENR.com.

Arch Nexus is proud to host the Experience Architecture: COTE Top Ten Exhibit, the industries premier program celebrating great design and great performance. Now in its 21st year, the Top Ten Awards highlight sustainable projects that protect and enhance the environment. Exhibit opens during Sacramento’s Second Saturday in September. Click here for more details.