August 2, 2010
Oakland, California
The Integral Group today announced the awarding of a LEED Platinum certification, the firm’s 7th, for the ClimateWorks Foundation offices, located in the Russ building in downtown San Francisco. This historic 1927 high rise embodies traditional sustainable building design principals prevalent before the advent of extensive mechanical systems in the 1950s and 1960s: operable windows, natural lighting, narrow floor plates, and high thermal mass. These inherent energy efficiency strategies were optimized during the design of the ClimateWorks offices to help enable the project meet the stringent requirements for LEED Platinum certification.
Working closely with San Francisco based Leddy Maytum Stacey Architects, electrical designers Integrated Design Associates, and lighting designers Architectural Lighting Design, Integral Group designed energy efficient systems for the project that include a dedicated outside air system which provides excellent indoor air quality; compressor-free cooling during most of the year; daylighting and low energy lighting; CO2 control/demand based ventilation control; low pressure drop duct design; and low pressure drop air handler design and selection. The office’s previous HVAC system was removed except for supplemental cooling in one conference room, and the project’s new cooling strategy takes advantage of the mild San Francisco weather: ceiling fans were installed and are used in combination with the operable windows. Estimated results show 2/3 less HVAC energy use and 1/3 less lighting energy than a typical California office building.
The Integral Group has been a consistent leader in the development of new and innovative mechanical systems that significantly reduce building energy use, and was the first U.S. MEP firm to achieve 7 LEED Platinum certifications. Integral Group differs from other firms in their commitment to green buildings – all of their projects are focused on sustainable design. The firm’s mission is to fundamentally redefine building practices to be dramatically more sustainable and resource efficient.
The Integral Group is an interactive global network of design professionals collaborating under a single deep green engineering umbrella. We specialize in the design of simple, elegant, cost-effective systems for high performance buildings.
