High Performance Lighting and Controls Saves Energy

If you see me walking around with a device that looks like it came from a sci-fi film, have no fear, it is merely a foot-candle meter. As part of our green building renovations all of our light fixtures are being replaced. We have purchased very high performing lights that will cut our energy use in some spaces over 75%.

The average office building uses approximately 1.0 - 1.2 watts per square foot to illuminate the interior spaces. For every three watts used to light our buildings we need an additional watt to remove the excess heat generated by all those artificial lights. In many buildings lighting accounts for around 30% of its total energy use. Our lighting upgrades have reduced our connected light loads from 1.2 watts per square foot to under 0.6 watts per square foot. Additional savings will be achieved through the use of occupancy sensors that shut off the lights when the space is vacant. We are also experimenting with daylight harvesting. Sensors will measure the amount of daylight in a space and automatically dim the artificial lights while maintaining predefined light levels. We are still calibrating the sensors; however the initial results are exciting. One space that previously used eight 32 watt fluorescent lamps now needs only TWO 28 watt T-5 lamps strategically place to give more light on the desks (over 50 foot-candles) reducing the energy use to light that space almost 80%.

Stay tuned for our next sustainable strategy - rainwater harvesting. Over 60% of the potable water we use in our office building is literally flushed down the toilet. That’s about to change.

By Michael Shilale, AIA, LEED

46 New High Performing Windows Feel Warm and Bright

Another part of our energy saving performance project is the window replacement work. Windows are the parts of a building that allow the most heat to escape in the winter and add solar heat gain in the summer. Older windows can also have greater air infiltration (draftyness), further increasing utility bills and energy use.

Our new windows are 78% better insulators, allow in just as much light as our old windows and are 60% better at resisting solar heat gain.

The simple payback on our windows is longer than some other items. However there are other benefits that make this project economical. Harvesting daylight with our new lighting controls will reduce our electric use. There is also a reduction in heat gain from lights that will translate into lower air conditioning costs. It is said that for every 3 watts used lighting a building and additional watt is used to cooling the space from the heat given off by the artificial lights.

The increase in comfort and decrease in drafts are additional benefits our staff is enjoying.

By Michael Shilale, AIA, LEED

Welcome!

Welcome to Michael Shilale Architects, LLP's "going green" blog! We decided to start this blog to document our efforts to be LEED certified, as we feel this information could help a lot of you out there who are considering energy efficient renovations.

But let's back up a few steps. What do we mean when we say we're striving for LEED certification?

At MSA, we "walk the walk." We are currently helping several clients, especially school districts, make energy efficient upgrades that are not only good for the environment, they're good for the energy bill, as well. We help our clients see what improvements can be made, and how those measures will help. (More about that, later, though.)

So, we thought, if we're helping our clients "go green," we should do the same for our own building! To benchmark our efforts, we have set forth using LEED, the United States Green Building Council's rating system. LEED is basically a set of credits you can reach by modifying your building and some of your systems, for example how you dispose of your trash: do you separate by paper, cans and bottles, and waste? These LEED credits are grouped into categories: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, and Innovation in Design. You can reach different levels of certification based on how many credits you can complete, Platinum being the highest level.

LEED certification is an ongoing process that not only includes physical changes to the building, but to how we operate in that building. That's why MSA will be keeping you posted on our hard work, so you can learn about LEED and the steps you can take to strive toward certification.

By Courtney Iseman