06/29/2024
The Cooper Center for Active Living was awarded a Runner-Up Award for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center Embodied Carbon Reduction Challenge!
Below is the announcement, and the the narrative from the judges explaining all of the positive embodied carbon attributes associated with the Cooper Center Project.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐๐ก๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฆ๐๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ก๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฌ
$30K RUNNER-UP AWARDS
9 Winning Projects
The judges appreciated the replicability of the runner-up projects and their support of innovative, low-carbon concrete solutions was a common theme among the nine awardees. The projects that focused on the embodied carbon reduction process, rather than simply the results, scored well, and the integration of embodied carbon reduction tactics early on in the design process was also celebrated. The judges noted the power of the reduction narrative to compliment the data, and they appreciated the emphasis on replicability from all project submissions. Overall, the nine runners-up demonstrated an eagerness to innovate in replicable ways, taking steps to push the envelope on creative and cost-effective embodied carbon solutions, with several teams undertaking their first LCAs, introducing new thinkers and innovators in the LCA space.
๐๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ข๐ง๐ โ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐จ๐ง
๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐ข๐๐ฐ:
Construction of a new senior center of approximately 32,000 sf, three story building on a 26,000 sf corner lot. The building contains an above ground gymnasium with suspended walking track, multiple purpose room, kitchen, game room, fitness, activity spaces and an outdoor roof deck. The Cooper Center for Active Living projectโs optimization strategy was to use timber and wood to the greatest extent reasonable in place of a typical steel and concrete structure. These optimizations include CLT decking and roofing, Glulam/PSL beams, LVL beams, wood stud framing, and wood I-joists. The optimization resulted in 27% reduction in embodied carbon when compared to the baseline.
Two early analyses were done in SD and DD to determine which direction the design team should take reduce both its embodied and operational carbon:
1)An analysis in SD was done to compare the combined embodied and operational carbon savings from a new building vs. an add/reno building. The new construction building had an estimated 25% higher embodied carbon but was much more efficient and the net carbon savings would come after 7.4 years.
2)After the 1st analysis convinced the team to pursue the new construction option, a 2nd analysis was requested in DD to compare a majority timber frame building to the average steel and concrete building. This analysis at the time showed that the timber frame option had an estimated 48% reduction when compared to the steel/concrete option.
๐๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ:
The reduction strategy of including the early analyses in the design process is easy to replicate, but the results will vary from project to project since there arenโt standards we can reference yet. This just means the results will be more project specific but will still give reliable results in making embodied carbon reduction focused decisions. The City of Newton asking for the design team to report embodied carbon AND reduce embodied carbon was the biggest factor in the project implementing embodied carbon reduction strategies.
The reduction strategy to design a building with a structure that uses timber and wood to the greatest extent possible is entirely replicable. Not every project will be able to use as much timber and wood as the Cooper Center project did, but there are certainly structural assemblies, such as floor decks and wall framing, in almost every project that can be designed with timber or wood instead of steel and concrete. Not only do these strategies reduce embodied carbon, but when done right, they can reduce weight and cost.
๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ:
A mass timber structural system with stick wood framing is significantly lighter structurally (~50% to 75% lighter) than a steel and concrete structure. The overall lighter weight also reduced both the sizes and weight of the supporting foundations and footings. The lightweight design helped to eliminate otherwise needed ground improvement where soil conditions at the project site were poorโup to 8 ft of urban fill and needed extensive ground reinforcing, such as rammed aggregate piers (RAP) with a heavier steel and concrete building.
The timber frame structure will be panelized, manufactured offsite, and assembled in a much shorter schedule than a steel and concrete building: ~4 months shorter.
Given the size of the building at 32,000 sf with fully sprinklered fire protection system, the project was classified as a Type 5 construction and benefited from reduced cost and added design flexibility. A steel and concrete building of type 1 or 2 classification would have significantly higher cost and fire requirements: ~15-20% higher.
๐๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ:
The Cooper Center for Active Living project was constructed using a wood framed construction with glue laminated timber frame, Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) decking, and a light frame stick wood wall framing system. The Glue laminated timber frame was ideal for long spans and was used over the raised gymnasium track to provide a clear span of over 65 ft.
Aside from the timber frame structure, which is not an industry average structure type, but would be seen as typical for a timber frame building, the real innovation in this project came from the early analyses that were done. The City of Newton really pushed the project team to analyze and report on a couple of options to ensure the project would meet optimal operational and embodied carbon. This began with analyzing both the operational and embodied carbon impacts of constructing an addition/significantly renovating the existing building vs demolishing the existing building and constructing a new, highly efficient, typical steel and concrete building. The analysis showed that the add/reno option had a ~25% embodied carbon reduction vs the new construction option which would have a ~38% operation carbon reduction and would have a net carbon savings after 7.5 years. This convinced the town to pursue the new construction option, but they wanted the team to pursue a timber frame structure from the beginning, due to its well-known embodied carbon savings over structural steel and concrete and requested another early analysis in DD to confirm the estimated embodied carbon savings. At the time this analysis showed ~48% reduction in embodied carbon.
