Alpine Branch Library

At a Glance

Client:County of San Diego

Location:San Diego, CA

Industry:Government, Government & Education

Size:13,500 SF

Project Team:Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects (Architect)Atelier Oncina (Architect)C.W. Driver Companies (General Contractor)

Certifications:Living Building Challenge Zero EnergyLEED (Gold)

Solutions:

Whole-Building Energy Modeling
Zero Net Energy (ZNE) Feasibility Analysis

The Challenge

To collaborate closely with project team members and focus on client engagement to set the project up for ZNE success to meet client goals.

Prepare concept-modeling studies to identify the feasibility of the project to attain ZNE performance
Use these results to give the County the confidence to include ZNE in its Request for Proposal (RFP)
Assist the D-BE team to understand what its energy targets and strategies would need to be prior to design, as well as provide appropriate roof space for the PV and solar water heating systems

Susan Freed

Project Manager, Energy & Sustainability Division at County of San Diego

“There’s a difference between whole-building modeling and merely modeling for code-compliance. The whole-building energy modeling that Stok produced for the library shows how all the building’s components work together. And that’s how you reach ZNE in the smartest way.”

The Solution

THE FIRST CERTIFIED LIBRARY

Achieving the Living Building Challenge’s Zero Energy Certification, the new 13,500 SF Alpine Library, which opened in May 2016, is the first ZNE building built by a local government entity and the first library certified under the LBC program. Through thoughtful design, the library’s projected energy consumption was cut nearly in half, while construction costs stayed within the project’s $10 million budget. Our team’s guidance–with D-BE engagement and the client’s participation–led to a highly successful ZNE outcome for a beautiful community project.

A SOLAR-POWERED SOLUTION

In the final ZNE design, the project utilizes a solar panel system spanning its long south roof, angled to take advantage of the sun’s rays and expected to produce approximately 108,500 kWh per year. The library’s windows also take the sun’s position into consideration, as many of them are located on the north-facing side, which allows more natural light with less heat gain and glare. Our Measurement & Verification specialists managed the ZNE performance to ensure that the building systems were fully-commissioned and that the energy use data was accurate. After one full year of gathering data, we were able to verify that the building used less energy than it produced.

BROAD RECOGNITION

The library has received broad recognition for its sustainability performance, including the Sustainable Buildings LEED BD+C Honor Award, Sustainable Building Strategies’ ZNE Honor Award 2018, and Engineering News Record California’s Best Green Project 2016.