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Critical to the design of any healthy building are the mechanical systems and the way they dovetail with natural ventilation. Most architects are well aware of the importance of clustering and separately ventilating those rooms that contain machines, chemicals, or activities that emit unpleasant or potentially dangerous fumes. And certainly no architect would take lightly the selection of the actual equipment, the calculations for the number of air changes, and the host of other tasks required to ensure a well-operating HVAC system. But, to the frustration of many a facility manager, long-term maintenance requirements are often shortchanged to minimize construction costs. For example, explains Ward Komorowski, facility manager at Johnson Controls’ Brengel Technology Center in Milwaukee, the mechanical room should be large enough so that the operation team can provide the proper maintenance and can check to see that the equipment is operating correctly. This seemingly obvious detail often gets lost in the push-and-pull that inevitably occurs between initial budget constraints and future cost efficiencies, explains Sandy Mendler, aia, vice president and director of sustainable design at HOK in San Francisco and chair of AIA’s Committee on the Environment.

Ductwork should be organized so that it is visually and consciously part of the circulation space, ensuring that it, too, can be easily and conveniently maintained. Says architect Randy Croxton, faia, of the Croxton Collaborative in Cannon, N.Y.: “One of the most egregious and ubiquitous examples of lazy design is hiding the mechanical system wherever you want above an accessible ceiling.” In this all too common scenario, maintenance crews end up climbing on computer workstations and lab benches—areas where dirt and debris are the worst form of contamination—to reach mechanical equipment.

 

	Photography: © Alan Karchmer
Nature Conservancy Headquarters Balston, Va. Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum specified a spigot near the front door (top left) of this office building so the sidewalk could be hosed down regularly. The granite floor in the lobby (left) has a flame finish, which requires less polishing and buffing than a glossy one. Linoleum and cork abut the carpet in a reception area (above right).

Material selection

For a building to start out with good indoor-air quality, architects should specify materials with low or no VOCs. In addition, the designer should require that construction be scheduled so finishes that initially emit pollutants (“wet” finishes, such as paint and terrazzo) are applied and allowed to dry and air out before finishes that absorb emissions (“fuzzy” finishes, such as carpet and acoustical tile) are installed.

However, for a building to remain healthy over the long haul, the architect must also consider how well these materials can be maintained and refinished without harmful chemicals. Whenever possible, select materials that can be sealed, cleaned, and refinished with solutions that are water-based, rather than solvent-based. Vinyl composition flooring, for example, needs to be coated several times a year. Eventually, a chemical stripper is applied to remove the coating buildup, and then the cycle is repeated. “All of this releases pollutants,” explains Carl Stein, faia, of Stein White Nelligan Architects. On the other hand, wood, cork, and bamboo flooring can be resurfaced every year or two with a water-based polyurethane finish, thereby lowering both emissions and labor costs throughout the life of the building, notes Mendler.

From a cleaning perspective, architects should minimize the different types of materials specified in a room because each material may require a different cleaning product or process. The more types of materials per room, the greater the cost of cleaning or the greater likelihood that the materials won’t be cleaned properly. In addition, architects need to consider the different maintenance requirements of adjacent materials. For example, HOK specified cork and linoleum next to carpet for the Nature Conservancy’s headquarters in Balston, Va., because cork and linoleum require a dry maintenance system or at most a damp mop, both of which are compatible with the dry maintenance of carpet. Vinyl composition flooring, on the other hand, would require wet maintenance, which could create a messy and, therefore, potentially unhealthy condition at the carpet edge.

 

Johnson Controls Brengel Technology Center, Milwaukee

The Brengel Center , which opened in March 2000, was one of the first buildings to receive a silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Green Building Rating System. From the beginning of the design process, the inhouse architect and facility manager worked closely with the architect of record, Zimmerman Design Group. Ample daylight and views of downtown Milwaukee and Lake Michigan enliven meeting areas (left). Mechanical equipment is located over circulation spaces so as not to disrupt workstations (above).

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