Occidental Chemical Corporation

Designed in the late 1970s, this landmark structure won the prestigious Owens Corning Energy Award and then, 20 years later, was one of the first commercial buildings to receive the Energy Star, a joint citation by the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency honoring buildings that demonstrate excellence in energy performance. Today, it stands as a model of the seamless integration of innovative engineering strategies with award-winning design.

Between two glass walls forming a double skin, automatically controlled louvers transform the building shell from fully transparent during occupied hours to a fully opaque, insulated condition when vacant. They also provide heat shielding of the interior through near-perfect solar shading. The vented four-foot space between the glass walls creates a continuous thermal buffer around the perimeter from which heat may be collected or purged depending upon building demand. Consequently, energy consumption is one-third that of conventional office buildings.

• Urban renewal site is accessible via public transportation
• Building orientation maximizes solar benefit and control

• Pioneering double-skin envelope balances daylighting, solar shading, and thermal conditioning demands
• Extensive computer modeling supported by Department of Energy grant

• All-glass exterior facade and 45-foot clear spans maximize views to outdoors
• 50% of all interior spaces receive natural daylight
• Double skin reduces infiltration, improving thermal comfort

• High performance building envelope reduced HVAC systems requirements and demands

• Energy consumption is one-third that of conventional office buildings of the period
• Operable louver system between glass walls shades building interior from direct solar gain
• Double-wall cavity functions as passive solar collector that retains heat in winter
• Pioneering daylighting control strategy reduces lighting power consumption to less than 1 watt per sf
• Heat rejected from water-cooled computer room air-conditioning units is recovered and

circulated to duct-mounted heating coils, supplying virtually all of the building’s heating needs

• Variable air volume air distribution system with variable frequency drives modulates airflow

to prevent overcooling and reduce fan energy consumption
Heat recovered from chillers circulates to provide space heating if required and preheats domestic hot water *Energy recovered from toilet exhaust system is used to preheat or precool outside air to central air-handling systems

• Chiller heat recovery in lieu of open cooling tower reduces make-up water requirements

• Corporate offices
• Operations center
• Commercial and retail space