ENERGY USAGE ANALYSIS
Energy usage is a major expense for owners and tenants in all projects and these costs will certainly not decrease in the future. As an architecture and engineering design firm, LK Architecture has the resources to comprehensively evaluate and recommend building systems and materials to optimize energy consumption. These evaluations are comprehensive, taking into consideration solar exposures, building orientation and fenestration, insulation and infiltration systems, shading factors, equipment efficiencies, internal heat source loads, programmable lighting and HVAC controls, occupancy sensor controls, daylighting, water heating sources, heat reclamation and reuse and many other factors. The long-term operational practices of the client and existing infrastructure must also be considered and incorporated into the resulting report recommendations. Pro-forma forecasts of energy utilization and savings are made to quantify the design decisions and their associated costs.
SITE LIGHTING DESIGN
Our electrical and lighting engineering design staff have provided functional, efficient and aesthetic site lighting design for over three decades. Site lighting projects have unique considerations:
- Fixture selection for low maintenance, high lamp efficiency
- Prevention of sky pollution and provisions for cut off angles to avoid adjacent property spill-over
- Optimization of pole height, spacing, and lamp size to minimize first costs and operational costs
- Circuiting provisions for tenant localized control
- Night light functions
- Coordination with site sound services
- Coordination with orientation signage
- Coordination with and consideration of building mounted lighting patterns
- Satisfaction of minimum light level requirements set by tenants and jurisdictions
- Security demands
- Consideration for lamp color temperature and color rendering index
- Coordination and compatibility with building signage
- Fixture and lamp vandalism resistance
- Structural considerations for bearing soils and wind loads
Photometric plans are provided that can be used both for tenant information and coordination as well as for jurisdictional approval when required.
PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING STUDIES
Critical to the preparation of the owners pro-forma, the forecast of operating expenses and the budgeting for initial equipment costs, is an accurate understanding of the site and building infrastructure and systems. Our in-house HVAC, plumbing and electrical engineers offer the ability to prepare preliminary studies of utility site and building distribution systems; energy consumption; domestic water consumption and gray water re-use; building mechanical systems selection; site and building storm water systems including retention/detention/irrigation considerations; fire protection site distribution and building service layouts; and where jurisdiction may require it, utilization of secondary treated water distribution systems. Customized and limited scope studies can also be performed. Our clients benefit by having accurate preliminary costs based on conceptual layouts and systems that reduce the risk of financial surprises in the pro-forma preparation.
LEED
The LK Architecture staff of architects, landscape architects and engineers maintain LEED AP certifications as part of the firm’s commitment and sensitivity to sustainable design practices. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has established a special LEED – NC standard for projects. In some jurisdictions, formal adoption of the LEED registration process has occurred or a modified version has been adopted, requiring new projects to comply with sustainable design principals as a precedent to obtaining a building permit. We are prepared to respond to those clients that may wish to pursue formal LEED certification or, if they chose, the alternate approach of following the LEED standard, but not formally registering their project(s). Certainly, when required by the jurisdiction, our designs will meet any comprehensive sustainable requirements.
