REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

The design documentation allows entrants to present their work from both architectural and energy performance perspectives. The following elements are examples of required documentation. They are described below in more detail along with successful examples from past competitions and other sources. These are not meant to be prescriptive.

REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION

Cover.           Title page
Page 1           Project Narrative
Page 2           Site Plan
Page 3          Floor Plan
Page 4           Perspective Drawing
Page 5           Illustrated Sections
Page 6           Mechanical System Summary
Page 7           Annual End Use Summary
Page 8           Monthly End Use Energy Consumption Bar Chart
Page 9           Hourly Load Shapes for Energy and Emissions
Page 10           Details of Renewable Energy Systems
Page 11           Storage Systems
Page 12           Decarbonization Narrative
Page 13           Climate Adaptation Assessment Matrix
Page 14           Equity Essay 
Optional: Pages 15-25. Supplemental Energy/Resilience/Decarbonization/Equity Information. Total Submission should not exceed 25 pages.

1. PROJECT NARRATIVE

The narrative should clearly outline and summarize the project’s context and goals. This text should be a high- level summary. If you would like to include an extended project brief or explanations of assumptions and methodology, please include them in the supplementary documentation. This summary should not exceed 250 words.

2. SITE PLAN

The site plan should indicate the parcel boundaries, location of the building, and size (kW) and placement of renewable energy sources. Highlight any low carbon strategies or systems shown. Include a north arrow, section marks (as needed), and scale.

3. FLOOR PLANS

The floor plans should depict the interior conditions of the building and indicate the total conditioned floor area. Indicate how the space is heated, ventilated, and cooled; how water is heated and delivered; and the design of the natural and electric lighting in the unit.

4. PERSPECTIVE DRAWING

The perspective drawing should convey the “big idea” of your design. 

5. ILLUSTRATED SECTION

The illustrated section should illustrate principles of passive design and envelope construction that would contribute to the building’s low carbon performance. The section should call out daylighting strategies, natural ventilation, air flows, specific materials choices, etc.  If arrows are used to illustrate any of these metrics, their intention and direction should be based in reality and physics; they should not be arbitrary. In addition, highlight the energy efficient aspects of the mechanical and lighting systems. 

6. MECHANICAL SYSTEM SUMMARY

The summary should include the types of the main mechanical systems used by the building as well as how and why they were chosen. Where applicable, ensure your specifications meet or exceed the Title 24 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards.¹

7. ANNUAL END USE SUMMARY TABLE

Fill in the table below to provide annual energy use and production broken down by major end uses. Write 1-2 sentences about what you learned from this data.

8. MONTHLY END USE ENERGY CONSUMPTION BAR CHART

Show the energy consumption by end use and production of the building on a monthly basis. Please use energy units consistent with the annual end use summary table.

9. HOURLY LOAD SHAPES FOR EMISSIONS

Use the “Energy and Emissions” excel workbook to show hourly load shapes for emissions in 2023. Note, hourly energy simulation results are required to generate hourly emission results.

To calculate the emissions generated, the “Energy and Emissions” workbook multiplies the modeled hourly energy use by an hourly emission factor. It’s important to note that these emission factors vary by season and by the time of day. Emission factors are the lowest in the middle of the day, when ample photovoltaic supply allows for a cleaner grid mix. As a result, even if energy use is high during the middle of the day, the resulting emissions may be relatively low, as illustrated below. Shifting energy use from hours with higher emission factors to those with lower emission factors can help your design meet zero carbon targets. Using the load shapes in January and August, identify times when load shifting would be beneficial and illustrate how your design implements load shifting strategies for the heating and cooling seasons, respectively.

Illustrate monthly total and cumulative net energy and emissions in the year 2023.

Note that hourly emission factors will change over time as more renewables are added to the grid mix. Additional analysis of load shapes using 2030 and 2050 hourly emission factors is included below in the Optional Documentation section.

10. DETAILS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS

Provide information about renewable energy systems, including sizing and installation location. For designs that include sources of renewable energy other than solar and wind, provide an example of an existing installation of the system showing the same performance. This information does not have to be on the presentation board but must be included in the submission.

11. STORAGE SYSTEMS (IF APPLICABLE)

If applicable, include information about energy storage systems included in the design.

Source: Zero Net Energy Case Study Buildings, Volume 2 (Speculative Office Building at 435 Indio Way) by Edward Dean

12. CARBON NARRATIVE

Does your design reach Zero Carbon performance? What are the major reasons why it does or does not? Describe your iterative energy and emission design process. How does the design take into account embodied carbon and what strategies are used to reduce embodied carbon?

“While this building only offsets 70% of its emissions, the deep energy efficiency measures such as the high-performance envelope, geothermal heating and cooling, and solar hot water reduce the EUI by 50% compared to a typical multifamily building. In order to maximize the outdoor space available to occupants, the building footprint was reduced, and the roof area cannot accommodate the PV required to offset 100% of the emissions due to building consumption.”

Emissions 2023-2050

Hourly emission factors will change over time as more renewables are added to the grid mix. Illustrate net average hourly, monthly total, and monthly cumulative energy and emissions in the years 2023, 2030, and 2050 using the “Energy and Emissions” workbook.

13. CLIMATE ADAPTATION ASSESSMENT MATRIX

Teams should fill out the provided Climate Adaptation Assessment Matrix that was included in the competition packet and incorporate it into their final submission documents.  Teams may also include a short narrative explaining the strategies they  incorporated into their project to address resilience. See the Carbon, Resilience, & Equity Resources page for more information and resources to help you develop your proposals.  

14. EQUITY ESSAY 

Teams shall include a short narrative explaining how their proposal addresses issues of equity and inclusion. See the Carbon, Resilience, & Equity Resources page for more information and resources to help you develop your proposals.