1315 Peachtree Street

1315 Peachtree Street is the new highly sustainable head office for Perkins+Will Atlanta and demonstrates the firm’s commitment to The 2030 Challenge targeting carbon-neutrality in the Building Sector. The original 45,000 ft² building underwent major reconstruction and renovations to transform the space into a high-performance building with sustainable features.

Integral Group provided mechanical, plumbing, and electrical engineering services incorporating energy reduction and saving measures to help achieve LEED Platinum certification. The building is designed to meet the 2020 baseline energy targets (50% reduction) and GHG emissions (80% reduction), with the ability to meet 2030 targets in the future. Integral Group developed an energy substitution solution involving a Cooling Heating Power (CHP) strategy using natural gas-fired micro-turbines to provide power and hot water for heating and cooling. This combined solution extracts the maximum energy from the natural gas source, which has a much lower carbon intensity than coal.

Energy modeling helped to determine appropriate and cost-effective building envelope modifications, which include new glazing, a double skin, various shading devices, and light shelves. The team installed energy-efficient lighting and advanced lighting controls to reduce energy consumption. Harvested rainwater is used for landscape irrigation and low-flow bathroom fixtures. To achieve the 2030 goals, the building systems include grid-connected cogeneration using micro-turbines combined with an absorption chiller.
KEY FEATURES

The HVAC system includes underfloor displacement ventilation air supply coupled with radiant cooling and heating. Integral Group used energy recovery and desiccant dehumidification strategies to reduce ventilation cooling loads. Lighting systems were designed for minimum egress level ambient lighting and LED task lighting, controlled by an occupancy and daylight sensing system. Rainwater is captured and used in a grey-water system. Evacuated tube collectors and photovoltaic panels are in place for renewable hot water and power production. This world-class project is registered as Georgia’s first LEED® Platinum V3 certification. Other features also included investigations of potential sources of biogas or biodiesel fuels for the cogeneration system.