2020 Ridge

The Northwestern University renovation and systems upgrade of the 2020 Ridge Avenue building in Evanston began in May of 2017 and was successfully completed in Fall 2017. 2020 Ridge is home to several University departments including Purchasing, Risk Management, Northwestern IT, NU Mail Services and Facilities. The project included a partial renovation of the third and first floors for Northwestern IT, and building systems upgrades. It included a new fire alarm system, new incoming water service, improvement and expansion of the fire suppression system, and conversion of the existing steam heat system to hot water. Before the renovation began, Cyclone performed dozens of studies on different building enclosure options, HVAC systems and control methods and lighting were simulated. To perform the studies, an energy model representing the pre-renovation energy consumption was created. The high-tech modeling software IES<VE> was employed for the study given its robust ability to simulate complicated and unique strategies. A calibrated energy model was created and tuned to match the existing building energy use. Studies were performed on options requested by the designers. These studies allowed the design team and Northwestern University find the best combination of options to achieve their project goals. Cyclone provided a results table to the team after each iteration informing the team of the energy impact at energy end-use level as well as big picture energy use intensity (EUI.) The final combination of options resulted in a project where all of the building programming needs were met and a 37% EUI reduction was achieved.