Westbank San Jose Portfolio-Wide Consulting

This ambitious portfolio will redefine the San Jose skyscape with eight all-electric, LEED Platinum, Zero Carbon and WELL-Ready new construction and renovation commercial and residential projects. Atelier Ten is working with the design teams to ensure each project meets the aggressive decarbonization, energy performance, water, and sustainability goals established by Westbank and Atelier Ten for the portfolio of San Jose projects.

Early in the project, Atelier Ten considered the local context of the buildings as well as the varying goals and perspectives from the developer and future tenants to establish aggressive energy performance, water, and sustainability goals. To inform the design, the team considered: how do we create architecture for a city on the brink of expansion? How do we fold sustainability into diverse perspectives? How do we do it at a scale to amplify impact?

The portfolio approach has allowed effective use of shared resources across multiple buildings including the physical consolidation of renewable energy, a central thermal and water plant and corporate-level material procurement strategies, off-site renewable energy procurement and health and wellness policies.

To meet the City of San Jose’s reach code for energy performance and achieve zero carbon, Atelier Ten worked with the team to design a highly efficient all electric central plant that strategically uses the code required fire water storage tank as thermal energy storage. The project also incorporates large PV array over the garage of the Terraine and Arbor Towers, providing renewable energy for the entire portfolio. To further optimize the GHG impact, Atelier Ten evaluated each project’s energy performance and explored energy efficiency measures such as natural ventilation, thermal energy storage and all electric operations.

Atelier Ten worked with Westbank to ensure each project has high quality work and living space achieved through prioritizing visual and thermal comfort through design. For each project, Atelier Ten completed façade analysis coupled with life cycle assessments to create exterior shading system that reduced direct sun exposure and carbon footprint. Ultimately, the projects are designed for occupant wellness through design and owner policies.