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Efficiency from the ground upWisconsin Focus on Energy opens
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| Architectural firm Potter Lawson Inc. is working
with Wisconsin Focus on Energy to design a new academic building
at University of Wisconsin-Superior. The project is currently
under design with plans to start construction in fall. Rendering courtesy of Potter Lawson Inc. |
Helping the state’s existing building owners work toward energy efficiency was a great start, but when extra money became available last year, Wisconsin Focus on Energy decided to work on projects from the ground up.
The partnership of state, nonprofit and private organizations decided to reach out to architects and engineers through a new construction program that offers information and technical help with green building, sustainable design and energy efficiency.
“We had a network of energy advisors who worked with new customers at their sites,” said Zach Obert, new construction program manager for Focus on Energy. “But we did not have a team of people reaching out to architectural and engineering firms.”
Obert said design professionals need to be informed if they want to make a difference in statewide energy use.
“Typically energy use increases 1 (percent) to 2 percent a year,” Obert said.
“Of that increase, about one-third of that is due to new facilities being built throughout the state.”
There are two paths through the program: a systems track that is geared toward unfinished projects and a project track that uses energy modeling to evaluate efficiency and track incentives.
“Regardless of the path, we can offer technical assistance to the design team and incentives to offset the purchase price of more efficient equipment,” Obert said.
Obert said the program tracts let clients tailor efficiency measures to their project’s needs.
“We’re not looking to tie into one specific system, like all rooftop solar units or that everybody has to do geothermal,” he said. “Basically, we establish a program baseline … and if it’s an improvement over that baseline, there’s the potential to offer energy incentives toward that.”
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| They’re very good and open to working with
us.I think the big thing is that because of theincentives, owners
are more likely toinvest in studies to see if there’s a waythat’s
more energy efficient.” Doug Hursh |
The project track lets architects and engineers take the same approach to the entire facility, using special software to model the completed project’s energy use and efficiency, Obert said.
Doug Hursh, director of design for Madison-based architecture firm Potter Lawson Inc., said the fact green building and sustainable design have gone mainstream recently, especially among public projects, has made the new construction program more viable.
State, county and local governments, school districts and colleges are trying to make their new buildings as efficient as possible, he said, and private clients are starting to jump on the bandwagon.
“They see the market value, too,” he said. “U.S. Green Building (Council) has done studies that say this next generation will choose a product that’s aligned with a social cause.”
Hursh said many requests for proposals today require the inclusion of at least some form of sustainable design.
“It’s everyone now,” he said. “It’s really changed over the past five years.
Before, I could count on my fingers the number of projects calling for it.”
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| Rendering courtesy of Potter Lawson Inc. |
Hursh said the industry seems to understand there’s more than one benefit to designing for minimal impact on the environment.
“You feel better about designing a sustainable building, a healthy building that uses healthy materials,” he said. “It’s in our best interest to create buildings with less of a carbon footprint. I think we’d be behind if we didn’t have a Focus on Energy in our state.”
Hursh said the Focus on Energy program gives architectural and engineering firms resources they would not otherwise have. The program offers help in finding incentives, he said.
“They have engineers, where that’s all they do is sustainable design,” Hursh said. “They’re very good and open to working with us. I think the big thing is that because of the incentives, owners are more likely to invest in studies to see if there’s a way that’s more energy efficient.”
Hursh said it’s often difficult to get owners interested in sustainable design and energy efficiency because of the potential cost factor. But Focus on Energy’s incentive programs make it much easier, he said.
“The big benefit is we’re educating owners,” Hursh said. “When they see the benefits, they’re more likely to participate in creating an energy-efficient building. … (Incentives) encourage owners to take the time to get the most efficient products possible.”