Carbon Conscious Design

Designed by Blalock & Partners and built by Okland Construction, the center took 13 months to construct between the summers of 2023 and 2024. It cost $5.4 million. Located at 215 S 400 E in Salt Lake City, the innovation center revitalized a single-story cinderblock commercial building constructed in 1951. Now retrofitted as a two-story office building, the adaptive reuse project expanded the square footage from 2,988 square feet to 5,620 square feet.  

The building team retained three walls, two-thirds of the roof deck and trusses, and numerous pieces of salvaged lumber for non-structural walls in the original first story. According to a 2023 report from RMI, “retrofitting an existing building emits 50 to 75% less carbon than constructing the same building new.” An embodied carbon analysis of the CIC will be completed.

“There’s already so much embodied carbon in the cinderblocks, the framing, [and] the steel trusses,” Emerson said. “We had to do quite a bit of seismic improvements, which included new concrete footings and new interior structural components. Most of the new structural components are mass timber, instead of steel or concrete.”

The second-floor mass timber structure includes glulam beams, cross-laminated timber roof panels, and vertical posts. Concrete was used in the footings and to repour a slab. Minimal structural steel supports the front cantilever structure.

Emerson said the team used low-carbon products to minimize emissions during construction.

“We believe that our homes and buildings should be efficient, emission-free, they should also be able to be grid flexible, and they should be affordable to operate and comfortable and have good indoor air quality,” he explained.

Thoughtful roof design allowed them to maximize solar coverage, with two-thirds of the roof fitted with panels. The parking garage, which features a covered canopy, also has solar panels covering one-third of the square footage. The building is fitted with a 38.7 kW solar array. When the sun is shining and the battery is not charging, the building runs on solar power. The building will run on the battery during cloudy days and darker winter months.

“Step one was to ramp up efficiency to reduce the amount of energy we need. Step two was to design a system that can fit the space on site to host as much solar as possible, and then step three was to select a large enough commercial battery that can store solar in real-time as we are generating solar,” Emerson said.

Energy Efficiency

During construction, Emerson noted the importance of insulation selection and air tightness to avoid air leakage through the air conditioner. The building envelope is a fundamental element of the structure to reduce energy usage from the HVAC system.

“We insulated the interior and exterior walls,” he explained. “There was continuous rigid insulation on the outside of the building. A climate-sensitive version of a low-GWP spray foam on the inside of the building provided air leakage and insulation.”

An air tightness study found a superior level of air tightness. Several windows also met the threshold for water tightness.  

The CIC is seeking Zero Energy (ZE) certification through the International Living Future Institute. The ILFI’s website describes ZE buildings as highly efficient structures that generate energy through renewable sources like solar or wind, on-site or off-site.  The certification also includes energy reduction through design and technology, energy optimization, and using renewable energy to meet the building’s energy needs. The center began its one-year energy performance review in October.

Emerson said there are three Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations on-site, with 110V outlets next to the chargers.

The second biggest power user behind the EV chargers is HVAC, so a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system was installed. This energy-efficient heating and cooling solution has two internal systems—a heat pump, and ventilation via the dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS).

The heat pump technology is all-electric and powers the building. Emerson noted the building has backup electrical-resistant components for cold days, but he doesn’t expect to use them. If they kick on, they will offer preheating. DOAS provides fresh air ventilation for the building and features a built-in energy recovery ventilator system that preconditions incoming air with air that is being exhausted from the building, reducing the lift on the heat pump and either heating or cooling it to the set temperature.

Interior products further support the environmental design. Flooring includes reclaimed wood in the corridors, recycled ceramic tile in the bathrooms and kitchen, and recyclable, low-carbon biobased or carbon offset carpets. Countertops are made from recycled paper by the Paperstone Company. Zero-VOC paint was also used throughout the interior.

The team needed a headquarters, but they also wanted to bring in the community to collaborate toward climate smart solutions, Emerson said. “As important as that was having a building to show that we are walking the talk and to use as a teaching tool, especially for folks involved in construction, [shows that] doing things differently is possible, it can be beautiful, and it can result in a building with a small energy cost.”