Attend an upcoming event to get an insiders’ perspective on the country’s most energy-efficient, cold-climate office building. Located in Basalt, Colorado, the Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center was designed to achieve Living Building Challenge Energy Petal certification, which requires net-zero energy consumption on an annual basis. Critical design elements included:
- Extended temperature ranges based on thermal comfort tools
- Passive cooling and natural ventilation
- Passive solar heating and thermal massing
The design team operated under an Integrated Project Delivery, IDP, contract, which offered unique challenges and opportunities for continuously informing the design through energy modeling.
This presentation will discuss the design process and the use of Integrated Environmental Solutions – Virtual Environment, IES-VE, to model thermal comfort and energy consumption. Model results from multiple phases of the project will be shared, as well as potential improvements to the software and IDP process.
Energy and Comfort Modeling for the Net Zero Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center
Wednesday, August 9
12 – 1:15 p.m.
Ecotrust
721 NW 9th Ave, #200
Portland, OR 97209
Register here to attend the live event.
About the presenters:
Marc Brune is a senior associate and mechanical engineer with PAE, a national leader in sustainable design. His focus is on integrated design and leveraging architectural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems to work together to achieve sustainable, cost-effective buildings. Marc led the development of mechanical design and energy and comfort modeling for multiple buildings that have achieved or are pursuing net-zero energy goals, including the Bullitt Center, the world’s largest commercial Living Building, and the Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center, aiming to go beyond net zero and be net positive. He holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Portland.
The founder and president of Architectural Applications, a2, John Breshears is dedicated to developing smarter and more elegant solutions to the use of resources in our natural and built environments. Architectural Applications is changing the way buildings use energy with the AirFlowTM Panel, a product that reduces HVAC energy use by 25 to 50 percent using space-saving technology integrated into the building envelope. John holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from New Mexico State University and a master’s degree in Architecture from Rice University. He teaches resource-efficient building design and technologies at Stanford University.