Walking Mountains Science Center - Avon, CO
Location: Avon, CO
SF: 12,000
Design: 2012
Role: MEP Prime Consultant
Project Overview
With a stated mission to awaken a sense of wonder and inspire environmental stewardship and sustainability through natural science education, the Walking Mountains Science Center identified sustainable design and construction as paramount to the development of a new campus on a donated parcel of land in Avon, Colorado. LEED Platinum certification was targeted as a testament to their dedication to that objective.
During his term with prior firm, ST+B principal Jacob Blevins worked as lead mechanical engineer and energy modeler to develop the concepts for both HVAC systems as well as envelope. The Architect and Owner insisted on the highest levels of building insulation possible. Desired envelope included double wall assemblies including portions made of strawbale construction, quadruple pane glazing assemblies, and roof construction nearing R-80. Initial modeling of the HVAC loads imposed by the desired envelope were so drastically reduced that the plant system sizing was less than one-third the size of what would have been required by a building insulated according to the prevailing energy code at the time.
For the HVAC systems, Walking Mountains was interested in incorporating sustainability technologies not only to reduce environmental footprint of the new facility, but also to use those systems as teaching tools. Biomass boilers, geothermal heat pump technology, natural ventilation strategies, energy recovery equipment and active solar systems were all desired. Jacob performed qualitative and economic analyses during systems selection phase to validate the desired systems. All requested concepts were included with the exception of the biomass boiler. Given the extremely reduced loads of the building, coupled with active solar thermal and geothermal components, the anticipated run time for a boiler system of any type were expected to be very few hours per year. A small gas-fired boiler was deployed in lieu of the maintenance and labor intensive wood boiler concept.
The HVAC systems sustainability measures coupled with the Ultra-Insulated envelope resulted in extremely low consumption values. Walking Mountains captured all points available for Energy Efficiency in the LEED rating system and was awarded Platinum certification as a result of this and many other features of the project.
As evidence of the superior envelope performance, during the first winter of operation the heating systems went off line due to power interruption. Despite extreme cold, the facility held temperature for more than three days before occupants noticed the building was cooler than normal. Envelope insulation and passive solar heating alone maintained interior comfort for multiple days in the dead of winter!
