High Performing Buildings - Fall 2011 - (Page 57)

G o l D e n H i l l o f f i C e C e n t e r Pilot Project The story of Golden Hills’s achievements begins with a partnership between private industry and what was then a fledgling government laboratory located at the edge of the Rocky Mountain foothills. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) (now the National Renewable Energy Laboratory or NREL) initiated a program in 1980 designed to assist developers and owner/architect teams in developing energyconscious designs for commercial buildings, especially multitenant or speculative office buildings. Knowing that most developers would only invest in energy-efficient buildings if the construction costs were comparable to conventionally designed buildings, SERI encouraged its partners to incorporate simple, low-cost features into their building designs. SERI personnel knew designers of commercial buildings could harvest plenty of low-hanging fruit to improve energy efficiency with negligible additional costs; now, they had to apply and validate their theories on a real fullscale commercial complex. The Golden Hill Office Center, located a few miles down the road from SERI’s campus, was selected as one of SERI’s pilot projects. The facility’s initial design was completed in April 1981 during a five-day charrette attended by a multidisciplinary team of developer representatives, architects, engineers, energy consultants, and SERI personnel. From these planning sessions, Golden Hill’s structure took shape as a three-building complex with two five-story glass atriums connecting the buildings. Golden Hill’s construction costs ended up being approximately 4% higher than the costs for a conventionally designed office building. The facility’s developers were able to make up the slight difference in construction costs through a favorable financing arrangement secured through the City of Lakewood. B u i l D i n G At A G l A n C e name golden Hill office Center location lakewood, Colo. (8 miles west of denver) owner Propp realty management Principal use Commercial office includes Café employees/occupants 732 occupancy 96% gross square Footage 209,000 Conditioned space 204,000 distinctions/Awards leed-eB silver Certification, 2008 99 energY sTAr rating, 2010 AsHrAe, international energy Awards, First Place in new Commercial, institutional, or Public Assembly Buildings (1989) When Built 1988 Climatic Design Golden Hill Office Center is located on top of a hill, an ideal location to use sunlight for various high performance building applications, especially since Denver typically experiences 300-plus days of sunshine each year. (The site also offers views of the nearby foothills and mountains and downtown Denver, a major selling point in the highly competitive field of commercial real estate.) Opposite This image shows the curvature of the complex looking from the west to the east. This siting makes the best use of the sun’s angle to bring abundant amounts of natural daylight into the facility. Right Golden Hill Office Center (from the north, looking south) is a three-building complex with two five-story glass atriums connecting the buildings. The facility is sited on top of a hill in an east/west orientation with the individual buildings in a slightly curved arrangement. Siting a facility in such an orientation minimizes east/ west window glazing and facilitates natural daylight penetration through the plentiful north-south window glazing. Fa l l 2 0 1 1 HigH PerForming Buildings 57 © gary C. Caskey Photography

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of High Performing Buildings - Fall 2011

High Performing Buildings - Fall 2011
Commentary
Contents
Manitoba Hydro Place
Maplewood Police and Court Building
Omega Center for Sustainable Living
Dockside Synergy at Dockside Green
Golden Hill Office Center
Letters to the Editor
Products
Advertisers Index

High Performing Buildings - Fall 2011