Greening Team Selection

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Greening Team Selection Greening Urban Edge Study
Funded by The Garfield Foundation
Presented by Doug Sacra, AIA, LEED AP HMFH
Architects, Inc. Consulting Associate Maple Hill
Architects, LLC
Maple Hill Architects
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Why bother early in the process?
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Why Important Green at lowest cost

• Early simple decisions will save most
• cost least

• Building configuration
• Orientation
• Shapes of rooms
• Percent of glazing
• System selection

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Why Important Quality Control

• Green Technology changing every day
• gtgtgt you want a team with experience to
• judge new technologies
• Dont want teams to have to learn
• everything (read make mistakes)
• on your project
• Want quality few change orders

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Why Important Cost ROI

• Want to make the most intelligent
• investments gtgtgt Need experience with
• type of analysis necessary to do this
• Want consultants that can bring in
• additional funding/grants

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How does UE pick design teams now?

• Previous relationships good bad
• Last project
• Experience in project type

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How does UE pick design teams now?

• Previous relationships good bad
• Last project
• Experience in project type

• Cost

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Is Previous Green Experience Necessary?
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Is Previous Green Experience Necessary?

• Yes

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Is Previous Green Experience Necessary?

• Yes

• But other qualities help

• Desire to learn
• Open to new ideas
• Integrates work with whole team
• Corporate or personal commitment to
• achieve high level of green on this project

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Whats involved in a Green Building?

• Healthier Living Environment

• Improved Indoor Air Quality reduces asthma
• Improved daylighting feels nice, energy
  efficient
• Thermal Comfort

• Costs less to maintain and operate

• Reduced energy water use
• cost
• Reduced maintenance cost

• Sensitive to the Environment

• Reduced resource use
• Reduced pollution, waste
• Potential to be Restorative

Worthington Place - HMFH
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How Green Should UE Projects Be?

• Fees level of green expertise required
• increases with level of green performance

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How Green Should UE Projects Be?

• UE should target different levels of
• green for different projects
• Return on green design investments
• greater on larger projects
• Lifecycle cost savings may not be worth
• analysis cost on small residential projects

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Pick What is Appropriate for Project

• Too small for custom energy modeling?
• Too simple for commissioning?
• Standard building type you have done
• many times before maybe dont need

• Acoustic modeling?
• Energy modeling?
• Envelope analysis?

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What Consultants Need to be Green? What green
areas do they influence?

• Architect everything
• Structural Engineer materials, energy
• Mechanical Engineer energy, IAQ
• Plumbing Engineer water, energy
• Electrical Engineer energy, lighting
• Civil Engineer water, materials, site

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What Consultants Need to be Green?

• Spec Writer materials, IAQ, recycling
• Landscape Architect shading,
• Energy, water, materials
• Cost Estimator cost of green
• Acoustical Engineer - IEQ
• Geotechnical Consultant materials
• Commissioning Agent energy, IAQ
• Energy Analyst energy, initial cost

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What Consultants Need to be Green?

• Furniture Equipment Consultant
• IAQ, materials
• Daylighting Lighting Consultant
• IEQ, energy
• LEED Consultant everything
• (documentation only vs. design consulting)
• General Green Consultant everything
• (Detail/nitty gritty green vs. high level
• concepts)

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What Consultants Need to be Green?

• Project Manager - for U.E.

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What Consultants Need to be Green?

• Project Manager - for U.E.

• Contractor

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What Consultants Need to be Green?

• Project Manager - for U.E.

• Contractor

• Client

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What Consultants Need to be Green?

• Project Manager - for U.E.

• Contractor

• Client

• User

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Integrated Team

• Consultants that can brain storm at
• conceptual phase
• Consultants that have worked together
• before more comfortable
• Consultants that respect other
• professionals even within their own
• expertise

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Common Questions

• Cant a non-green consultant do
• green work?
• I know what I want I can just tell any
• consultant those requirements

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Common Questions

• Cant a non-green consultant do
• green work?
• I know what I want I can just tell any
• consultant those requirements

• You want experts keeping up with
• improvements in technology, codes,.
• Dont want them depending on you to
• know the best options

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How do I Find Out What Green Work a Consultant
Should Do?

• Tell consultants you want a green project
• as part of RFP
• Ask consultants to include levels of
• green services in their proposals
• Get multiple proposals for same work
• (or) ask Architect to
• Ask a green consultant i.e. GRT,
• New Ecology

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Match Performance and Fees

• Options for scope can include

• Budget what can you do for 5,000?
• Level of LEED or various LEED points
• Level of performance I.e. 30 energy
• efficiency above code, etc.

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Proposals Contracts

• Review Green scope in detail as part
• of negotiations
• Review green work on previous projects
• show me the LCA
• Include explicit language in Contracts
• Hire green consultant to review other
• Consultants design work
• ie. commission the green design to
• check if goals being met

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Common Questions

• Is lifecycle cost really important?
• We cant afford it
• Review Example

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Lifecycle Cost / Owner vs. Developer

• Consider entire cost to own
• Initial cost, maintenance, energy,
  environmental
• Current norm Consider initial cost only
• UE Ideal High Performance Building Owner

• Own for life finance for 20 years
• UE or tenants pay all maintenance, energy
• portion of initial cost paid by grants
• H.P. features subsidized by utilities, MTC

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Water Vignette - Approaches

• Harvest Rainwater off roof
• Use for irrigation or toilet flushing or both
• VS.
• Using less water waterless urinals,
• Dual-flush toilets, etc.

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Rainwater Harvesting

• Danvers 22,000
• Whitman Hanson 70,963
• Dedham 287,128
• Woburn 433,800
• VS.
• Melrose 81,000
• Melrose (hypothetical) 5,000

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Results

• Water
  Sewer
• Danvers 110,372 0
• Whitman Hanson 603,540 0
• Dedham 926,280
  0
• Woburn 1,640,006
  0
• VS.
• Melrose 369,240 369,240
• Melrose (hyp.) 369,240 369,240

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Rainwater Harvesting

• BCR
• Danvers 22,000 0.6
• Whitman Hanson 70,963 2.7
• Dedham 287,128 0.4
• Woburn 433,800 0.5
• VS.
• Melrose 81,000
  1.4
• Melrose (hypothetical) 5,000 23.1

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• Can U.E. Afford to Not Do Lifecycle Cost
  Analysis?
• Could give similar examples for energy
• modeling, commissioning, etc.

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Will it Cost More?

• Some areas should be norms
• I.e. does not cost more to do
• construction recycling if already in your
• Master Spec
• If design work, analysis, or research
• increases in scope gtgtgt should cost more

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Will it Cost More?

• You expect more service than in typical
• project gtgtgt

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Will it Cost More?

• You expect more service than in typical
• project gtgtgt

• It should cost more gtgtgt

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Will it Cost More?

• You expect more service than in typical
• project gtgtgt

• It should cost more gtgtgt

• Project will save more in overall budget
• if optimization occurs (possible to have
• net gain to project)

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Will Fee Distribution be the Same?

• Expect to pay more up front
• Earlier extra analysis completed gtgtgt
• Less redesign work
• Construction Phase should not have
• reduced fees gtgtgt often new technologies
• take more contractor hand-holding
• Review change order rates

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How to Keep Costs Low

• Make timely decisions
• I.e. HVAC system right-sizing in
• response to efficient exterior envelope
• no extra cost if done from beginning
• Make sure consultants are taking others
• improvements into account
• Reduce over-design
• Set standards apply to multiple projects
• Be flexible dual flush valve example
• Use same consultants on future projects

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Grants Rebates

• Is consultant experience really needed in
• grant or rebate funding?

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H. P. Incremental Funding For Egleston Crossing

MTC 500,000 Energy Star
Electric 87,600 Keyspan Natural Gas
56,500 Total from Utilities MTC
644,100 Incremental Funding/S.F.
9.91 Review Green School examples
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Benefits of Selecting a Truly Green Team

• Project will become green without you
• loosing your hair
• New technologies included even if you
• dont know about them
• LEED or green certification easier
• If scope does not change, Fees should
• not increase over project duration
• Green consultants know what to expect

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Contact Information
Doug Sacra HMFH Architects, Inc. Consulting
Associate www.HMFH.com Maple Hill Architects,
LLC 508.358.1615 Doug_at_MapleHillArchitects.com