Sunnyvale Welcomes Net Zero Space
Hillhouse Construction just wrapped up a complete interior and exterior reno of a two-story, concrete tilt-up racquetball facility from the 1970s at 415 Mathilda. To celebrate, they threw the first open house of its kind in Silicon Valley, with a mission to teach the commercial real estate community about Zero Net Energy and open the doors to communication so there is a better understanding of this construction type. Here are Mayor of Sunnyvale Jim Griffith; California Energy Commission representative Jackson Thatch; Sharp Development's Kevin Bates (the developer); and president of Hillhouse Construction Ken Huesby (the builder). All new construction in California will be ZNE – ZCE required by law in 2030.
There's passive cooling by way of operable windows for fresh air, operable skylights for exhaust air and ceiling fans (with mechanical HVAC as back-up). A typical 33k SF building would have 100 tons of HVAC, but this one has only 40 tons installed. View Dynamic Glass tints during direct exposure, and there's about 163 kw of solar power on the roof (SunPower PV panels). Also check out the Green Living Wall by Habitat Horticulture (there's also one at 505 Howard in S.F.) and reclaimed wood and concrete salvaged and reused from the demo phase.
