Sustainable Design Optimization of Alternatives
A general assessment of the resilience, social impact, environmental impact, wellness impact, and total cost of ownership is conducted for feasible design alternatives of the following systems:
- Building structure (above grade and below grade);
- Building envelope (insulation, glazing and finishes);
- Site (services, finishes and landscaping);
- Mobility (transportation and services);
- HVAC;
- Energy systems;
- Water systems (stormwater, potable water and wastewater);
- Building massing;
- Lighting (natural and artificial);
- Interior layouts and space use.
Passivhaus Design Analysis
- Model project energy performance at critical milestones using PHPP;
- Model thermal bridging elements;
- Help guide building envelope design;
- Provide gap analysis reports to the design team.
LEED v4 Certification Evaluation
- Analyze project design at critical milestones as compared to the requirements of LEED v4 and v4.1 prerequisites and credits;
- Identify guaranteed points, targeted points, points requiring clarifications, points at risk, and points that will not be pursued;
- Provide gap analysis reports to the design team.
Whole-Building Life-Cycle Impact Analysis
- Using the Revit models supplied by the design professionals, calculate the environmental impacts for a reference building as compared to the proposed design in accordance with the requirements of the LEED v4 credit ‘Building Life-Cycle Impact Reduction’;
- Evaluate the massing, structure and envelope design alternatives being proposed, based on normalized and weighted lifecycle impact analyses for the lifecycle stages:
- Stage 1 – Raw Material Acquisition
- Stage 2 – Manufacturing
- Stage 3- Transportation (Distribution)
- Stage 4 – Use (In-service/reuse/maintenance)
- Stage 5 – End-of-Life (Recycle/Landfill)
- Provide reports to the design team with WBLCIA results and guidance as to how to reduce the lifecycle impacts of the design.
WELL v2 Certification Evaluation
- Analyze project design at critical milestones as compared to the requirements of WELL v2 preconditions and optimizations;
- Identify guaranteed points, targeted points, points requiring clarifications, points at risk, and points that will not be pursued;
- Provide gap analysis reports to the design team.
Zero Carbon Certification Evaluation
- Analyze project design at critical milestones as compared to the CaGBC Zero Carbon and ILFI Zero Carbon certification requirements;
- Provide gap analysis reports to the design team.