Three years ago, Steve Rice, Dave Fergus, and Mike Miller, partners in the 36-person design firm Rice Fergus Miller, bought a vacant and derelict Sears Auto store in downtown Bremerton, Wash. Their goal: convert the 30,000 gsf space into the most energy-efficient commercial building in the Pacific Northwest, and do so on a construction budget of around $100/sf.
Working with ME partner Ecotope, the partners calculated the amount of energy use they would allow as they strove toward net zero. Working backwards, they calculated the amount of energy that could be generated by covering every horizontal surface with PVs and designed the building to that number. Then the Building Team, including PCS Structural Solutions (SE), Gerber Engineering (EE), and Tim Ryan Construction (GC), considered which energy-related factors they could control and which they couldn’t.
PROJECT SUMMARY
RICE FERGUS MILLER OFFICE & STUDIO
Bremerton, Wash.Building Team
Submitting firm: Rice Fergus Miller (owner, architect)
Structural engineer: PCS Structural Solutions
Mechanical engineer: Ecotope
Electrical engineer: Gerber Engineering
General contractor: Tim Ryan Construction, Inc.General Information
Size: 30,000 gsf
Construction cost: $3.15 million
Construction time: September 2010 to May 2011
Delivery method: Self-performed
What they could control was insulation, heating, and cooling. To that end, they super-insulated the skin; put on a reflective roof; hyper-insulated the walls, floor, and roof; and installed windows with a weighted U-factor of 0.25. To control heating/cooling use, the team came up with a hybrid system of natural and mechanical ventilation in which heating, cooling, and ventilation were separated; ceiling fans mix the air, and the building has almost no ductwork.
The Building Team could have used FSC-certified lumber from Oregon or British Columbia; instead, they reframed the roof with locally harvested and milled lumber, which saved energy and helped local businesses. The team also ruled out a solar water heating system because the domestic hot water load did not justify the investment.
On the way to earning 91-point LEED Platinum certification, the office and studio achieved a 78% reduction in energy use over the national average for office buildings. Said Reconstruction Awards Judge Keith Hammerman, PE, “They thought through what they wanted to achieve and designed to meet that goal.” +
Related Stories
Retail Centers | Jun 2, 2023
David Adjaye-designed mass timber structure will be a business incubator for D.C.-area entrepreneurs
Construction was recently completed on The Retail Village at Sycamore & Oak, a 22,000-sf building that will serve as a business incubator for entrepreneurs, including emerging black businesses, in Washington, D.C. The facility, designed by Sir David Adjaye, the architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, is expected to attract retail and food concepts that originated in the community.
Mixed-Use | Jun 1, 2023
The Moore Building, a 16-story office and retail development, opens in Nashville’s Music Row district
Named after Elvis Presley’s onetime guitarist, The Moore Building, a 16-story office building with ground-floor retail space, has opened in Nashville’s Music Row district. Developed by Portman and Creed Investment Company and designed by Gresham Smith, The Moore Building offers 236,000 sf of office space and 8,500 sf of ground-floor retail.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 1, 2023
High-rise cancer center delivers new model for oncology care
Atlanta’s 17-story Winship Cancer Institute at Emory Midtown features two-story communities that organize cancer care into one-stop destinations. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and May Architecture, the facility includes comprehensive oncology facilities—including inpatient beds, surgical capacity, infusion treatment, outpatient clinics, diagnostic imaging, linear accelerators, and areas for wellness, rehabilitation, and clinical research.
K-12 Schools | May 30, 2023
K-12 school sector trends for 2023
Budgeting and political pressures aside, the K-12 school building sector continues to evolve. Security remains a primary objective, as does offering students more varied career options.
Multifamily Housing | May 30, 2023
Boston’s new stretch code requires new multifamily structures to meet Passive House building requirements
Phius certifications are expected to become more common as states and cities boost green building standards. The City of Boston recently adopted Massachusetts’s so-called opt-in building code, a set of sustainability standards that goes beyond the standard state code.
Architects | May 30, 2023
LRK opens office in Orlando to grow its presence in Florida
LRK, a nationally recognized architectural, planning, and interior design firm, has opened its new office in downtown Orlando, Fla.
Urban Planning | May 25, 2023
4 considerations for increasing biodiversity in construction projects
As climate change is linked with biodiversity depletion, fostering biodiverse landscapes during construction can create benefits beyond the immediate surroundings of the project.
K-12 Schools | May 25, 2023
From net zero to net positive in K-12 schools
Perkins Eastman’s pursuit of healthy, net positive schools goes beyond environmental health; it targets all who work, teach, and learn inside them.
Contractors | May 24, 2023
The average U.S. contractor has 8.9 months worth of construction work in the pipeline, as of April 2023
Contractor backlogs climbed slightly in April, from a seven-month low the previous month, according to Associated Builders and Contractors.
Mass Timber | May 23, 2023
Luxury farm resort uses CLT framing and geothermal system to boost sustainability
Construction was recently completed on a 325-acre luxury farm resort in Franklin, Tenn., that is dedicated to agricultural innovation and sustainable, productive land use. With sustainability a key goal, The Inn and Spa at Southall was built with cross-laminated and heavy timber, and a geothermal variant refrigerant flow (VRF) heating and cooling system.
