Existing buildings or developments that demonstrate outstanding performance in improving the health, equity and/or resilience of people in local communities.
First LEED v4 Platinum, WELL Gold Project in Southeastern United States.
The challenge of this project was to cost-effectively re-activate a circa-1950s office building with 11’-0” slab-to-slab height, irregular structural systems, outdated MEP infrastructure, and 8’-0” ceilings.
Integral Group, in close collaboration with Interface and the architect, focused on three primary design elements: indoor environment, energy conservation, and water efficiency. Using early-stage modeling, Integral evaluated multiple envelope strategies, executed a water balance analysis, and performed conceptual studies of 3 HVAC approaches: variable refrigerant flow, radiant cooling/heating, and active chilled beams.
The culmination of the early-stage envelope study led to replacing the existing poorly-performing envelope with one that strategically added glazing to the North and East facades to balance solar heat gain and glare mitigation with the ability to maximize daylight in the occupied spaces. The water balance led to the delivery of a modular 15,000 gallon on-site rainwater harvesting and treatment system designed to offset 100% of the water required for toilet flushing and green roof irrigation. Using a 15-year life cycle cost analysis, 2-pipe active chilled beam system leveraging an air-cooled heat pump chiller and dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) were designed to achieve Interface’s goals of low-water, low-energy, and high thermal comfort environments.
“Integral Group, in close collaboration with Interface and the architect, focused on three primary design elements: indoor environment, energy conservation, and water efficiency.”
