Mary Ann Lazarus, Colin Rohlfing and Gerry Faubert from HOK join David Eijadi, principal of energy and daylighting consultant The Weidt Group, in describing the process they used to create a market-rate, zero-carbon emissions design for a class A commercial office building in St. Louis.

“We reversed the way we might normally work in that we didn’t come up with hard line drawing solutions,” says Faubert. “We allowed the analysis to be done first. That would inform the design and the architecture would be developed out of that analysis. It was designing under the mantra that form follows performance.”

“We learned in the process that a zero emissions building can be surprisingly affordable,” says Rohlfing.

“The …

This is a report on the zero emissions building design charrette that took place on September 17. HOK and The Weidt Group participants in San Francisco, Toronto, St. Louis, Berkeley, Calif., and Minneapolis saved carbon emissions from air travel by using Cisco Telepresence Technology, Polyvision THUNDER Express, WebEx and HOK’s Advanced Collaboration Rooms to meet virtually.

The team designing the a zero carbon emissions office building has made lots of progress since my last ZEB post. With the final meeting fast-approaching and an affordable carbon-free solution on the horizon, it’s time to crank out some posts to catch you up on what they’ve been up to.

Finally, a Focus on the Building …

This is a report on the zero emissions building virtual design charrette that took place in HOK’s Advanced Collaboration Rooms in San Francisco, Toronto and St. Louis on 13 August 2009.

This virtual meeting’s participants included Bill Valentine, Tim Gaidis, Tyler Meyr, Gerry Faubert and Jeff Sanner of HOK along with Prasad Vaidya of The Weidt Group. Ideas were flying, and the electronic flipcharts received a heavy workout. Here’s a summary of the outcomes.

Bar Length, Alignment and Core Configuration

Previous energy efficiency and generation models had demonstrated that it would be tough to meet the zero emissions goal if the total building area surpassed about 180,000 square feet. “If we need to increase …

I have the incredible fortune to be in Montana right now with a unique ensemble of biomimicrists, a planner, an architect and an engineer, all of which despite their diverse backgrounds, are birds of a feather. As part of HOK’s alliance with the Biomimicry Guild, we’re here cooking up some big ideas for our clients today and tomorrow. It is so exciting to be a part of this convergence that is forging a new path, based on some very old principles, for a more sustainable future. One thought for the day which came from Gerry Faubert “…designing uni-functional buildings is like designing a city with only one-way …