Autodesk Renovates Their One Market Building Using Revit |
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By Lauren Browne, ConnectPress Editor
One of the most interesting LEED points received was for the exemplary performance with green power. Autodesk purchased Renewable Energy Certificates from 3Degrees for 1104 MWh of green power sourced from wind farms and biomass facilities. The environmental benefits are the 1104 megawatts of green power that prevents the emission of 683 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
There were challenges around making the building LEED Platinum certified; the largest challenge revolved around the fact that “there were just certain things we couldn’t do because of the historic nature of the building. We couldn’t touch the exterior walls, and because of this there were a number of limitations to what points could be achieved. We knew from the start we couldn’t even consider some of the points,” said Medal-Katz. Medal-Katz also said at one point, it looked like the team was not going to be able to achieve a platinum certification and that they might have to settle for gold certification, but the team decided to keep asking, “What else can we do?” One of the last points received was for reused materials for furniture and furnishings. “We had explored getting used chairs, but couldn’t find what we needed. We just kept looking and finally we ended up finding used chairs. That got us one of those critical points that pushed us beyond the platinum threshold,” said Medal-Katz.
Both Medal-Katz and Rippingham agreed that the BIM and IPD (Integrated Project Delivery) enabled the team to achieve a LEED Platinum certification. IPD, where the architect, the contractor and the owner sign one agreed contract with everyone sharing the same risk and reward, was established from the beginning of the project. Because of BIM, the communication in the project was superior. “BIM was a huge communication tool and IPD let that happen. I don’t think that without the IPD contract that BIM would have been as successful,” said Rippingham. He continued, “It was a heavy effort made to make sure what was designed in the model was what was being built out in the field and that communication was through the BIM platform.”
As Autodesk has proved in its past buildings, it sets the bar high and provides good examples to its customers on how to design sustainably, use BIM and implement IPD. It is clear from One Market that building green spaces is a priority for Autodesk. As for Autodesk’s future buildings, according to Autodesk, office spaces will aim to achieve some level of LEED certification in all new projects.
Lauren Browne is a writer and editor for ConnectPress Ltd. in Santa Fe, NM. She received her BA in English and a minor in journalism from Northern Arizona University.
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| Published 2009-09-25 17:35:28 |
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