Whole Building
Decarbonization Solutions

Learning from existing buildings and their renovations provides a path forward for future design. We evaluate the operating performance of facility systems and equipment to determine potential improvements.

Through energy audits, we identify sources of energy use and pinpoint cost-effective strategies for energy savings. We provide building owners with options to reduce energy consumption while maintaining or improving human comfort, health, and safety. We also benchmark energy use over time, and can compare energy use for similar buildings in comparable regions to further understand how your building systems are performing.

Converting from fossil-fuel combustion to all-electric equipment requires coordination with local utility providers and specific knowledge of HVAC equipment, water heating technologies, and kitchen equipment. Our multidisciplinary design team can guide you through the process of electrifying your facility.

We work with building owners to develop tailored strategies for energy-use reduction, from full systems solutions as it relates to HVAC and lighting, to upgrades for building envelopes, windows, and doors. Energy conservation measures often result in short- and long-term cost savings as well as resilience, safety, and security. We explore the total cost of ownership, or life-cycle cost, of all relevant options to help you make informed decisions for the life of your building. Our team will help you find funding mechanisms, like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and local utility incentives, to reduce the cost of the project and optimize your investments.

Our historic preservation team can advise on the adaptive reuse of buildings, an approach that values a structure’s original look and history but revitalizes it with a new purpose. Adaptive reuse makes it possible to maintain a building or site’s cultural heritage, minimize a project’s carbon footprint, and minimize urban sprawl.

Retro-commissioning provides a thorough diagnostic check of all systems and the adjustment of systems to operate according to the original design specifications. Alternatively, the systems can be modified to reflect changes to building operations and owner objectives since the original design. This is an essential tool in ensuring reliability, safety, energy efficiency, and quality requirements are fulfilled.

On-site renewable energy can be incorporated into existing buildings, but the electrical and structural systems must be evaluated, and modified in some instances. Our integrated team will explore the options to arrive at the best solution for your facility and help you find funding mechanisms, like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and local utility incentives, to reduce the cost of the project and optimize your investments.

Thoughtful site selection sets a project up for success and can have a significant impact on carbon emissions. Sites that have amenities such as bike paths and nearby bus stops and retailers limit emissions from transportation. Similarly, selecting sites with existing infrastructure limits the amount of development required, reducing the materials brought onto the site. In areas with district energy systems, selecting the right site will help the building tie into clean energy infrastructure, reducing carbon emissions and operational costs.

When projects include multiple facilities, it is important to consider district-level thermal and electrical energy solutions. Fluctuations in building thermal load profiles allow energy to be shared from one building to another and result in lower heating and cooling capacity requirements. Microgrids offer a cleaner solution to power generation through renewable energy and storage. Additionally, technology like combined heat and power (CHP) results in low carbon intensity electricity and additional heat that can be distributed to building loads.

Through a variety of tools such as energy modeling, building automation system analysis, daylight analysis, and computational fluid dynamics our team of multidisciplinary experts can help develop strategies to optimize your building’s performance. We explore the total cost of ownership, or life-cycle cost, of all relevant options to help you make informed decisions for the life of your building. Our team will help you find funding mechanisms, like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and local utility incentives, to reduce the cost of the project and optimize your investments.

According to the AIA, the emissions associated with the extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation, and maintenance of building materials accounts for 28% of building sector emissions. Using life-cycle assessment tools, we reduce the carbon footprint of buildings through thoughtful material selections. Strategies include reusing materials when possible, reducing high carbon intensity materials, and sequestering carbon through materials selection and landscaping.

Most buildings can be designed to be fully electrified at little or no additional cost as compared to those with fossil-fuel combustion on site, but this requires careful coordination with local utilities and all trades involved. Our integrated multidisciplinary team will guide you through the process of developing and building a fully electrified building.

Commissioning entails a thorough quality assurance process that begins during a building’s design phase and continues through construction, occupancy, and operations as well as warranty-phase stages. Commissioning ensures new buildings operate according to the owner’s intent and building staff members are prepared to operate and maintain its systems and equipment.

A post occupancy evaluation — or POE — is a detailed look at how a facility is meeting the original design objectives and operational requirements. It’s also a review of how occupants are using the space and how they feel about it. The POE process offers valuable insights into occupant satisfaction, building operations, and energy consumption.