Energy On an As-Needed Basis
Controlling energy usage at Hysan Place was important to the owner. Early in the development process, Parsons Brinckerhoff worked to properly orient the building, positioning the tower for maximum reduction of heat gain and glare. The firm also incorporated design of various computerized energy management systems to monitor and adjust the building's energy usage on a real-time basis in order to boost occupant comfort, provide energy savings, and reduce emissions.
Natural vents were integrated into the curtain wall design. “This allows natural ventilation on the office floors when desired, which saves on air-conditioning and allows tenants to enjoy outdoor air during the mild season,” says Project Manager Paul Lee. A carbon dioxide fresh air system is similarly controlled. “This is a sensory technology to provide the exact amount of ventilation needed, rather than the large quantity that would otherwise be needed without such a detection system.” Escalators in the building are equipped with standby mode features, which saves energy during periods of low usage, and elevators incorporate regenerative drive, which cycles energy usually lost during braking back to the building's power grid for re-use. High- efficiency lighting technologies such as LED light and high reflectance nano coating lighting were adopted to achieve a 30 to 40 percent saving over the LEED baseline. Daylight sensors are also provided to dim the high-efficiency lighting output level when daylight is sufficient.
Another area of cost effectiveness is the central air conditioning plant, which comprises such state-of- the-art chiller solutions as a multi-stage compression duty chiller, magnetic float frictionless night chiller, variable speed, and water cooled technologies. The heat recovery system, free cooling system, computerized measurement and verification instrumentation promote continuous energy saving as well. In fact, all energy saving systems and features enable more than 20 percent of the total building energy saving comparing with the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning) standard and LEED baseline.