This approximately 35,000-square-foot, three-story commercial office and retail building is located in Palo Alto, CA. Verdical Group is providing:

• LEED v4 Project Management (BD+C Platinum Certified)
• Fitwel Project Management (1 Star Certified)
• Living Future Zero Energy Project Management
• LEED Fundamental Commissioning
• LEED Enhanced Commissioning
• CALGreen Code Commissioning
• LEED Energy Modeling 
• Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• ZNE Feasibility Assessment

The project has earned LEED Platinum certification and Fitwel 1 Star certification, and the project team is pursuing a Living Future Zero Energy certification. The building was designed for very low-grid energy demand. It was also designed to have a measurably smaller life cycle environmental impact, making the pursuit of the Zero Carbon certification very feasible. There will also be no combustion or gas energy servicing this building.

In the design phase, it has been awarded 19 LEED points for the Optimize Energy performance credit. The project team maxed out the points for this category by reducing energy use by 79% below the baseline, with a final estimated EUI of 19.3 kBtu/square foot/year.

In order for the project to achieve the team’s net-zero energy goal, a number of strategies were implemented, including the PV system that covers nearly the entire rooftop, an advanced envelope design utilizing double glazing with low U value, advanced HVAC systems using very high efficiency VRF systems with a separate DOAS responsible for ventilation, Cycling and Variable Flow Drive (VFD) fans, separate ventilation and HVAC systems for offices and retails, the installation of Demand Control Ventilation (DCV), separation of bathroom exhaust from office exhaust, use of a heat pump for Domestic Hot Water, advanced lighting systems with occupant sensors to reduce Lighting Power Densities (LPD), advanced installation of Building Management Systems as well as efficient equipment systems to reduce Equipment Power Densities (EPD), and low water flow features. Water-efficient plumbing fixtures were considered to maximize indoor water use reduction to achieve a 48.8% reduction from the baseline.

The LCA currently shows a 27% reduction in embodied carbon, largely attributed to the use of high-SCM concrete materials and optimized transportation distances. Initially, the team selected all slag mixes for the design, achieving over a 20% reduction in GWP without considering transportation. However, the acidification and tropospheric ozone formation impact categories exceeded 5%, failing to meet LEED requirements. As a result, the team consulted with the structural engineer and opted for a 40% fly ash mix for the foundation, which helped reduce the other environmental impact categories. While the team is still selecting EPDs for additional materials, concrete accounts for the majority of the embodied carbon emissions, positioning the project well on the path to meeting its sustainability goals.

The team’s goal was to take a holistic approach to sustainability, which was certainly achieved. This project is slated to achieve net zero energy, and acts as a great example of what a highly efficient multi-use building can look like.

388 Cambridge is a 2026 INT Interior Design Award winner.