2024 USGBC-CA Green Building Awards
Project of The Year
Honor in Energy/ Embodied Carbon
Wastewater treatment creates Biogas - there is no current technology to avoid this. For several decades, OCSan has been collecting the on-site biogas and running it through a Central Generation Plant to create electricity, hot water, and steam.
While ILFI typically would not allow and gas use on-site for the NZE certification, they agreed that this on-site circular economy process utilizing the biogas was legitimate. Running the biogas through the co-gen reduce the CO2 emissions by 95% and was providing sufficient energy to power the plant operations and buildings. Our team’s MEP engineers identified an underutilized portion of the hot water that was not hot enough to be used in the older buildings HVAC systems but was ideal for the high-performance active chilled beams in the new HQ. The challenge was how to get this hot water across the road to the new site for the HQ? The road between OCSan Plant #1 and the HQ site also presented a challenge for the efficient movement of staff between the two sites. The solution was Fountain Valley’s first pedestrian bridge that carried both the staff and the “free” hot water across the road. End result, 60% of the new HQ’s power comes from the biogas cengen and the remaining 45% comes from on-site PVs on the roof and shading the parking.
When you are designing a mass timber structure and want to optimize the impact of beautiful, biophilic ceilings - you realize that every run across the CLT ceiling for power, sprinklers, ductwork, etc. must become an intentional part of the design. The only way to achieve this is to collaborate closely, eliminating the easy answer to integration and returning to a level of craft.
The new OCSan HQ delivers triple bottom line sustainability (good for the planet, good for the people and good for the economy) on many different levels. It is on target to deliver:
- Net zero (NZ) ILFI Zero Energy Certification.
- 58% Reduction in Embodied Carbon compared to a typical steel building
- Achieve LEED Gold with a pathway to Platinum.
- Support the health and wellness of OCSD employees and visitors.
- Make a beautiful and welcoming civic building without being ostentatious.