DA-13-C009 -- Manitoba Hydro Place: Energy Efficiency 2.0 PDF

Manitoba Hydro Place is among the most energy-efficient office buildings in North America. The building’s high performance has its roots in an integrated design process, but the expected results were only achieved after an intensive optimization phases. Situation in Winnipeg, Canada, where temperatures range from -35 deg (-31 deg F) to 35 deg (95 deg F) annually, a unique climactically-responsive design was constructed to take advantage of passive energy opportunities. For example, the building form is oriented with solar gains in mind, with a wide exposure to the exact south, and a reduced facade area in the north. These strategies, with the support of energy modeling as a design tool, were intended to reduce energy at Manitoba Hydro Place by 60% compared to the Model National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings. Upon building completion, an optimization process began, which included the key engineers from the design team. The optimization process considered data from hundreds of energy meters and made comparisons with the as-built model. Discrepancies were identified, and several modifications were made to mechanical and control systems. Throughout this process, the energy consumption of Manitoba Hydro Place was reduced from 161.2 kWH/m2a (16.1 kWH/ft2a) in the first year of operation to 85.3 kWh/m2a (8.5 kWh/ft2a) by the third year.