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Portola Valley Town Center wins 2 Prestigious Awards Oakland, December 4, 2009 - Today Rumsey Engineers announced that the Portola Valley Town Center was named a 2009 Top Ten Green Project”by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE), and also received the Savings by Design Energy Efficiency Integration Award. These add to a long list of awards Rumsey Engineers has won for its innovative, cost-effective, deep green designs. The AIA COTE Top 10 Award recognizes the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. The awards go to projects that result from an integrated design approach: combining architecture, mechanical systems, natural systems and technology. The projects were honored at the AIA 2009 National Convention in San Francisco. The award for the Portola Valley project is Rumsey Engineer's fourth COTE award. The Savings by Design Energy Efficiency Award (sponsored by Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Company and Sacramento Municipal Utility District, in conjunction with The American Institute of Architects, California Council,) recognizes achievement in combining architectural elegance with sustainability and energy efficiency and acknowledges the extra time and effort it takes to successfully integrate architectural excellence and energy efficiency. Designed by Siegel & Strain Architects and Goring and Straja Architects, the award-winning new Portola Valley Town Center houses a library, community hall, and town hall offices and replaced three old, seismically unsafe structures. Rumsey Engineers’ unique mechanical and plumbing design featured daylighting, natural ventilation, sunshades, and thermal mass which reduced overall energy use and allowed for smaller mechanical systems. Small, efficient air-conditioning units pre-cool make-up air and eliminate the need for full air conditioning. The design also includes efficient mechanical systems such as radiant heat and nighttime cooling. A 76 kW photovoltaic system supplies 40% of the electricity used by the building; nonrenewable energy costs are reduced by 51% and operating carbon is reduced by 76.2 tons per year. A section of previously buried creek, now exposed to daylight, will become a cistern for storing 40,000 gallons of rainwater. The project uses 53% less energy than Title 24 compliant buildings. Rumsey Engineers, a national leader in energy efficient design, continues to win national, regional and local awards for its projects, which are exclusively focused on sustainable design. The firm has pioneered the use of innovative new design strategies in U.S. buildings, such as chilled beams, night sky evaporative cooling, radiant heating and cooling, low-pressure drop design, and air-side and water-side economizing. Through many successful deep green building projects, the firm has proven that highly energy efficient designs cost no more than standard designs and result in not only significant reductions in energy and water use, but provide many important non-energy benefits such as better long term ROI, higher occupant comfort, increased leasability, and improved productivity. About Rumsey Engineers
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