SPARK

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

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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University of Northern Colorado saves big with energy action

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The University of Northern Colorado (UNC) turned to McKinstry to identify energy-saving measures spanning 1.3 million square feet of campus space and 18 buildings on campus. The effort also included powerED, McKinstry’s behavior-focused energy management program, to boost their sustainability goals.

UNC leveraged powerED to challenge students, staff and faculty to take action in eliminating waste and reducing energy use. A steering committee of more than 25 students and staff assembled to guide the program, and members of UNC’s Green Team volunteered to lead various activities such as a carbon cube demonstration and building energy use tours. Much of the effort focused on demonstrating how small changes – such as turning off lights, unplugging unnecessary electronics, system improvements and conserving energy – can make a big difference.

More than 800 students and staff signed up for a People.Power.Planet account at UNC, checking off over 1,800 routine and 150 key actions to save energy. Through this effort and close collaboration with the facilities team and other departments, UNC has since reduced energy use by 25 percent campus-wide and avoided $1,335,000 in associated energy costs.

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Here’s how Alison Schwabe takes energy action at work and at home

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alison-schwabe-eam-qaAlison Schwabe joined McKinstry eight years ago and works in our Golden, Colo. office. As powerED program manager for the Mountain region, she works with schools, universities and local governments within the Mountain region to help them save energy and cut waste. She has also been instrumental in building the Mountain Region’s corporate stewardship team including rolling out the office’s composting program.

Q: How do you explain powerED?
A: Our powerED program is all about people and encouraging sustainable behaviors (like this month’s challenge). We drive awareness, action, and impact to help our clients save energy and cut waste through three key components. The first is PEOPLE. We engage building occupants and operators in a campaign to increase awareness and action around energy efficiency. The second is PROCESS, which involves working with our clients to help them identify and implement low- and no-cost energy-saving measures. The third is PERFORMANCE. We’re only as good as our results. We measure impact and demonstrate progress by tracking energy savings, carbon reduction, and other key benchmarks. I’m proud to say that through our powerED program to date, company-wide we’ve helped participating clients save $21.7 million in energy cost and cut carbon by 155,861 metric tons.

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My B.L.U.E. Summer: Tessa Weiss (Golden, Colo.)

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Hello! My name is Tessa Weiss and I’m a rising junior studying Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This summer, I’ve had the opportunity to intern as an energy engineer with McKinstry’s Colorado team.

Tessa Weiss.

Tessa Weiss.

I’ve always been interested in sustainability and energy, and McKinstry intrigued me because the company sees many of its projects through its entire life-cycle—from development to design to construction to commissioning and measurement and verification. As an energy engineer, knowing that my work is actually helping to make an impact at increasing the energy efficiency of buildings is a powerful feeling.

One of the first words I think of when I think of McKinstry is implementation; this is in part because of their ability to design, construct and verify the project all under the same roof. McKinstry doesn’t just sit around and hypothetically talk about how to increase the efficiency of buildings—they actually design, construct and verify a more efficient built environment.

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Year Two of B.L.U.E. at McKinstry

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Editor’s Note: B.L.U.E.—or Build, Learn, Understand and Enrich—represents the core tenets of McKinstry’s internship program: the B.L.U.E. Program. As a part of the program, we have asked our interns to share their backgrounds, their passions, their work, their lessons learned and their ideas for the future on the “B.L.U.E. Blog.” We launched the B.L.U.E. Blog on Spark in 2017, so Logan’s post about his second year of interning at McKinstry kicks off the second year of the blog’s existence.

Logan Bock.

Logan Bock.

In my second summer of being an intern at the McKinstry office in Golden, Colo., I have joined the construction team to further expand my knowledge and skillset. I have a “never say no” attitude about work, which has lead me to taking on many kinds of projects here at McKinstry. I have found myself outside of my comfort zone, which has pushed me to expand my skills.

For example, I have been challenged to develop my AutoCAD skills working on a project for the L.A. County School District. I have been using AutoCAD software to update project “as-builts” for three different schools. While I learned this program in school, the type of tasks I have had to complete with the software have been different than what I learned in the classroom, which helps expand my skillset.

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Our leaders drive excellence

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As we close out the week and our celebration of Women in Construction Week, we’ll end by focusing on some of the women in leadership at McKinstry. From running businesses to developing new markets to mastering financials, these women are critical to driving excellence within McKinstry. As leaders, these women are making strides and driving impact in their careers, the industry and our communities every day.

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Getting To Know: Nicole Demby (Golden, Colo.)

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Nicole Demby.

Hello! I’m Nicole Demby, and I’m a commissioning engineering intern and proud B.L.U.E. Program participant at McKinstry this summer. I’m from Cortez, Colo. and I’m a rising junior studying Mechanical Engineering at the Colorado School of Mines—just five miles from McKinstry’s office in Golden, Colo.

Getting to intern at McKinstry this summer has been invaluable. My knowledge of HVAC systems and commissioning engineering (not to mention construction in general) has grown exponentially over the past few weeks.

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McKinstry and sports: a winning team

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CenutryLink Field Aerial View

This is an aerial view of CenturyLink Field and Event Center, which is topped with an array of solar panels—as seen in the lower left. The view is from the south facing north towards downtown Seattle and was photographed on August 13, 2011. (ROD MAR/SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AND SOUNDERS FC)

As the leaves fall and the air grows colder, there’s one thing which draws an opinion from almost everyone:

Whether it’s football, basketball, hockey, or another fall sport, people love to play, watch, and talk about athletics. While we love sports at McKinstry, they’re also part of our job.

Much as teams have to practice and plan in order to play their best on game day, McKinstry has to work hard behind the scenes in order to make sure the stadiums and arenas hosting millions of fans are up to that task.

Here are the stories of three athletic facilities where McKinstry’s work has had a major impact on fans and players alike:

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Performance contracting: A strategy to address water woes in the West

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DroughtPhotoWP

Photo by Anthony Quintano, via Flickr.

As raging wildfires, barren fields, and dried-up waterways continue to dominate the landscape of the American West, it’s abundantly clear that drought and water scarcity are critical issues that require immediate action.

While there’s no comprehensive solution to the current drought, organizations and individuals throughout the region are looking to use every possible strategy to mitigate the drought’s impacts.

McKinstry explored how using a simple yet innovative procurement mechanism—performance contracting—could quickly help address water conservation in the seven Colorado River Basin states (AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, UT, WY). What we found was that schools and public governments in those states could save big.

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