LID™

Using the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) LEED® rating system and LPA's copyrighted software program LID™, we can assess sustainable design options early in the process with accurate cost data. A building's green quotient can be documented in the commencement of the process assuming that sustainability is an integrated component of the building.

This software program created and developed by LPA is used during the Green Charrette and will establish a baseline for all future sustainable studies. The tool is continuously updated during the design process as we move through the five LEED categories. At the conclusion of the charrette, the document will represent the sustainable strategies that will be explored for the project while keeping a running total of the points and costs during the process.

The LPA PV Calculator©

Photovoltaics are selected to provide clean renewable energy directly to buildings as part of an integrated architectural design. The LPA PV Calculator© is an evaluative tool we utilize to inform our clients regarding the feasibility of a proposed PV installation. The calculator provides results for both PV energy performance and economics at an early design phase.

The PV Calculator© uses historic solar irradiance data for various locations within California and combines these with utility rate schedules and building power demand profiles measured directly by LPA. It calculates outputs on a 15-minute interval over a 30-year-lifespan. This 15-minute interval is commonly used by the utility company to determine the peak power demand charges that can dominate electricity costs, especially in the summer when PV output is at its greatest. This fine time resolution of the PV Calculator© allows us to determine not only the cost for each kilowatt per hour of PV array offsets, but also specifies all of the various peak power demand charges which vary throughout the day and year.

Furthermore, our PV Calculator© provides a lifecycle cost analysis, a breakdown on the net investment, payback period, offset in carbon dioxide intensity versus using the electrical grid, LEED and CHPS points allocations, and the percent of roof area needed for an installation. All of this can be accomplished for a variety of building types and computable in the PV technologies of either crystalline or amorphous silicon.

The LPA Carbon Calculator

The LPA Carbon Calculator clearly defines a quantitative measure of a building's carbon intensity, enabling LPA to design projects which meet the internal carbon reduction goals of our clients. It also quantifies the operational cost savings associated with energy use reduction, and the value of monetary incentives available to our clients from the various utility companies.

The Carbon Calculator compares the carbon intensity of our design to that of a design standard meeting either minimum energy code requirements or historic operational energy use. The tool is unique in that all metrics are California-based and reflect the benefits of our design within the stringent energy efficient code environment of the west coast region.

The LPA Ecotect Calculator

The LPA Ecotect Calculator measures the extent to which solar, thermal, shading, lighting, and airflow will affect building energy use, and is utilized during the conceptual and detailed design phases of a project. The purpose of this calculator is to facilitate comparison of the impact of various design options on energy use and translate the results into annual operating costs. Based upon this analysis process, it is clear which design elements will provide the greatest cost savings, thus allowing our design team and clients to compare the capital cost impacts of various alternatives and associated aesthetic considerations. Cost savings are calculated within the project's utility jurisdiction, taking into account the regional variation in utility costs.