All-Electric and Future-Proof: Proving the Numbers Before Ground Broke
OUR INSIGHT
We modeled the full design decision space: systems, structure, and envelope, to confirm that the all-electric, mass-timber configuration was the highest-performing path for meeting the client's carbon, cost, and compliance targets simultaneously.
The Challenge
A confidential healthcare client needed to build a new 76,000 sf corporate campus in Spokane that was all-electric, low-carbon, and compliant with both the Washington Clean Building Act and the 2021 Washington State Energy Code, before those standards were widely proven in practice. The project also had to weigh competing structural systems for embodied carbon, a decision with long-term consequences that a standard energy model would not have addressed.
Our Role
We worked alongside HOK and Coffman Engineers within a design-build delivery structure, providing the owner with independent analytical support that the project's pace and structure would not have otherwise included. Our energy and embodied carbon modeling gave the design team the evidence base to make performance-driven decisions at each major design gate, from structural selection through mechanical system value engineering, without slowing the schedule.
The Result
A completed 76,000 sf all-electric office building achieving 49.9 kBtu/sf EUI, 11% below the WA Clean Building Act target, with a 32% reduction in annual energy cost compared to the client's existing office building ($94,214/year vs. $137,896/year). The embodied carbon analysis identified CLT Option 1B as a 30% reduction in structural embodied carbon versus the standard steel option, giving the ownership team a defensible basis for a higher-performing structural selection. The building is now positioned to meet the company’s long-term carbon forecasting commitments as the Avista grid moves toward carbon neutrality by 2027.
Services
Energy Modeling | Embodied Carbon | Electrification | Building Performance Standards
CLIENT: Confidential
ARCHITECT: HOK
LOCATION: Spokane, WA
YEAR: 2022
SIZE: 76,000 sf