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News: Celebrating Energy Efficiency Day 2022

In honor of Energy Efficiency Day 2022, Architectural Nexus is pleased to announce the findings of the first year of occupancy in our Living Building Pursuant Salt Lake City Office. The results? SLC is at a net positive energy production rate of 109%. This building is generating more energy than it consumes!

The dashed line on the above graph represents predicted energy use based on analysis done during design. The Peaks in the shaded graph indicate periods of higher actual energy usage, and the valleys represent lower energy use. While they do not coincide exactly, you can see that the predicted and actual use follow a similar pattern. Energy efficiency was a key strategy to achieving our energy positive goal. One of the measures taken to conserve energy was to encourage the building occupants to become active stewards of our office environment. Take June’s energy consumption in the graph below. Instead of running the air conditioning all day, staff open windows and doors to let a breeze cool down the office. This, along with the use of Solatubes instead of electric lights, greatly reduced the energy used throughout the office.

Even if you are unable to utilize solar panels, other efforts can still create measurable energy efficiency.  During the summer, close blinds and shades to keep the sun out and reduce the need for air conditioning. During the winter, do the opposite. Let the sun in to warm your home, reducing the need for a heater. These small every day actions amount to larger impacts.

As you can see in the above graph, the energy predicted to be generated as represented by the dashed line, and the actual energy produced, as indicated in the shaded area, were nearly identical. This on-site produced energy via photovoltaic panels equated to 109% of the energy used meaning that Arch Nexus SLC is net energy positive. After our first year of closely tracking the energy production and consumption of the SLC office, one can see clear conclusions. Sustainable design and occupant actions work together create optimal energy efficiency.