SPARK

Discoveries, innovations, and insights that illuminate the future of the built environment

How energy efficiency is powering the new University of Utah Health Science Campus

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By Erick Allen and DJ Hubler

The University of Utah (U of U) Health Science Campus houses nearly 4 million square feet of critical patient care, laboratory and educational space. In 2017, the U of U broke ground on several new cutting-edge buildings—totaling nearly 800,000 square feet—transforming the campus. The university realized that their existing chilled water plant didn’t have the capacity to meet the loads of these new buildings scheduled to come online.

The U of U Planning, Design and Construction (PDC) team studied how best to meet this new cooling load—either by adding new chillers at a cost of nearly $40 million, or by significantly decreasing the cooling load in existing buildings. Reducing the load in the existing buildings could be accomplished for less than $25 million and would also result in ongoing energy savings. The choice was clear, and the university set out to find a partner to help them design, build and execute these energy-saving measures.

The PDC team chose McKinstry as its partner, with a dual goal of reducing the load on the chilled water plant by at least 2,000 tons and saving enough energy in the process to pay back the capital used to fund the project within 10 years.

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A smart, comprehensive approach to a clean energy future

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Jeff Hughes (left) is McKinstry’s Director of Renewable Energy Services.

The clean energy revolution is here, RIGHT NOW! Right-sized, clean, and resilient power generation is the exciting new norm and the future we are building together. Renewable energy has seen tremendous growth in recent years, and widespread adoption has been enjoyed throughout the country in all major market sectors.

This year in the United States alone, 24 gigawatts (GW) of new electricity generation capacity will come online, 66 percent of which will be provided by solar PV, wind, other renewables, or battery energy storage. Eight GW of capacity will be retired, the majority of which is from fossil fuel sources. While this represents significant progress, renewable energy (including hydropower) accounts for just under 20 percent of the overall U.S. energy mix, underscoring the tremendous challenge in front of us—to achieve a 100-percent, clean energy future.

This data shows we’re chasing a moving target—a growing target that still adds eight GW of fossil fuel capacity every year. For us to achieve the future we desire, we must think holistically and with resolute purpose. By adding solar and renewable energy to our electricity grid, we are all helping bring clean energy to our communities but only addressing part of the problem: we are ignoring our energy use and we are ignoring our behavior toward energy.

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We’re ‘walking in’ for climate change

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By Dean Allen, CEO, McKinstry

Today, millions of students, tech workers and others across the globe will be walking out of their classrooms, places of work and homes to join together in a Global Climate Strike to demand action against the looming climate crisis. We at McKinstry applaud these efforts, and I’m personally inspired by the youth leading this movement and hopeful for their future.

Today, as we do every day at McKinstry, we’ll be spending our time innovating the waste out of the built environment; designing projects with aggressive energy and carbon reduction goals leveraging renewables, shared energy, and other leading-edge technologies; and constructing, renovating and servicing building systems in ways that create less impact to the earth’s fragile ecosystems. This work is critical to the fight against climate change.

We are part of an industry that greatly contributes to the climate crisis despite having the power to do something about it. But, because of persistent silos, slow innovation and poor organization, the construction industry has so far been ineffective at embracing what’s possible in the fight for our planet. The time to act is now, which is why McKinstry is working hard to change the paradigm and lead the way to a carbon-free future.

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World-class research facilities demand world-class facility optimization

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By Ric Cochrane, account executive, and Mike Kowalick, senior program manager

The University of Washington School of Medicine’s world-class biomedical research complex includes three buildings with lab space plus an administrative and mixed-use building, totaling nearly 530,000 square feet. As with many sophisticated new facilities, ensuring that the building meets its functional design goals required building operators to understand its unique features and have a well-defined procedural framework for monitoring and maintaining its systems.

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2020 Interns: Here’s what to expect at McKinstry

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Editor’s Note: We asked 2019 intern Jason Orr to reflect on his summer at McKinstry, respond to a few questions, and share his tips, best practices and suggestions for future interns.

Q: What are the keys to a successful internship at McKinstry?

A: Everyone has a unique experience here. The work from position to position varies greatly, and the departments themselves work on very different projects. However, across all positions there are a few key actions that can help future interns be successful.

Jason Orr.

The first is to get to know your immediate team. These are the people you’ll be spending the most time with, meaning you can learn the most from their expertise. Work hard with your team, but also get to know people on a personal level.

Secondly, you should go to as many events as you can fit into your schedule. The B.L.U.E. Program team does a fantastic job scheduling events and giving interns opportunities to learn about relevant topics. At these events, you should get to know a variety of people—everyone has a unique story to tell.

Lastly, future interns should connect with people at McKinstry who have the same hobbies/interests if you want to make a deeper connection outside of the office. I ended up rock climbing this summer with two awesome fellow employees at Little Si (a mountain outside of Seattle). It was an amazing experience!

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Smart Building Doesn’t Mean Cost-Effective

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We’re going to rebuild the entire world in the next 40 years. Wait, say that again? As the urban population around the globe continues to grow in the coming decades, the world’s building stock will double in area by 2060. As Bill Gates highlighted in a Gates Notes blog post last fall, it’s the equivalent of “adding another New York City every month for the next 40 years.”

Stop and let that really sink in for a moment. 

Now click here to read the rest of the column at PHCP Pros.

What I’ve learned at McKinstry…and what comes next

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Growing up, I always loved science and math. When those two classes combined in my high school physics course, I decided to major in engineering. Though I wasn’t sure what being an engineer would specifically entail in the professional world, I knew that my many interests (math, physics, science, tech, Boeing’s newest jet, epic LEGO Star Wars sets, etc…) put me in a place where studying to become an engineer made sense.

What I hadn’t accounted for was my development into a full extrovert. I love people. I love hearing stories about where they’ve been and where they come from, what they do and how they got there, meeting new people, working with people…you get the idea.

Stereotypically, engineers are not known as “social butterflies.” My love for people has sometimes made me unsure whether I’d picked the right major during college. I’m happy to say that my experience at McKinstry has shifted me back toward confidence in myself and my future career.

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Connecting sustainable spaces with healthy places

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Did you know that the average American spends 85 percent of their time within a building?

Sarah Spencer-Workman, a Technical Services Senior Manager based in McKinstry’s Golden, Colo. office.

As a result, building industry professionals and owners have started to realize that the built environment has direct and indirect effects on human wellness and productivity—even if occupants are often unaware.

Specifically, industry health and building experts from leading institutions are making it a priority to investigate the link between indoor environmental quality, cognitive function and decision-making performance.

One particular study, known as COGfx, placed 24 participants over the course of six full work days in an environmentally-controlled office space of fluctuating ventilation conditions—ranging from conventional office buildings to green buildings and green buildings with enhanced ventilation. Subsequently, the study yielded noteworthy results demonstrating:

  • 101 percent higher cognitive performance scores in green buildings with enhanced ventilation
  • An eight percent increase in employee decision-making performance equates to approximately $6,500 improved productivity each year
  • A productivity increase that was 150 times greater than the resulting energy costs

With higher employee satisfaction, a substantial increase in productivity and minimal cost to the employer, the COGfx study has provided peer-reviewed evidence for the connection between sustainable building and occupant health.

Further, in an Urban Land Institute survey, 92 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that health and wellness features in a real estate property can impact its market success and economic value.

Connecting studies to real-world results

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Three takeaways from my summer at McKinstry

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Aidan Korper, center, with his colleagues on McKinstry’s Fire Protection team in Portland.

As I reflect on my summer here at McKinstry, I’m blown away at what I’ve learned. Not only have I expanded my knowledge of the construction industry, I’ve grown as a human being. Distilling all of that growth into three main takeaways is difficult, but it helps me mentally digest what I’ve learned in the past 12 weeks.

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How to engineer an engineer

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Greetings once again! For those who don’t remember my first post, I’m Jason Orr. I’m working as a mechanical design intern on the Energy team in Seattle this summer. Since arriving in May, I’ve experienced a steep learning curve. Luckily, my all-star team is full of patient and flexible people willing to help a rookie like me.

Jason Orr, at his desk in Seattle.

In short, McKinstry’s Energy team is responsible for projects that involve existing buildings. Since humans aren’t perfect, the buildings we design aren’t either. We try to ensure that, say, a hospital that’s been standing for 100 years is there for 100 more. In the age of sustainability, another goal of ours is to make everything more efficient. How can we save the customer money while also saving the planet?

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