Genentech

By Stephen Selkowitz

Corporate Goals & Initiatives

Genentech, founded in 1976, is a biotech/pharmaceutical company, subsidiary of Roche Pharmaceuticals with U.S. business headquarters in South San Francisco and three other smaller U.S. sites. The corporate headquarters site comprises buildings totaling 3.5 million square feet and housing ~12,900 employees. The space provides support for office, lab, and administrative functions and is growing with the addition of new office and lab space. Genentech had 2014 revenues of $16.3B and ranks #6 on the Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For”.

As a subsidiary of the European-based company Roche, Genentech inherits some of its building energy and sustainability performance themes and goals from its Swiss corporate parent but with a U.S. business practice overlay. Roche tracks a wide range of Key Performance Indicators, KPIs, which include many related to energy use, emissions, waste generation and water use. (Roche 2014) These are tracked over time and reported 1) in absolute terms, 2) with reference to number of employees, and 3) with reference to corporate sales. Genentech tracks a more limited set of Corporate sustainability parameters for its US operations, and for each of its four sites. They follow site energy use, site emissions, business travel emissions, fleet energy use, water use, waste generation, etc. as part of a 10 year master plan (Genentech 2014).

As a global biotech company faced with recruiting and ongoing staff retentions and productivity challenges, Genentech facilities objectives include:

1) Providing an attractive and supportive work environment in a competitive industry;

2) Optimizing energy efficient operation of the building while providing a comfortable and responsive workspace;

3) Providing a workspace that is amenable to ever-changing corporate needs; and

4) Broadly supporting corporate sustainability goals.

Genentech has undertaken an aggressive program on its South San Francisco site to upgrade existing buildings and to ensure that all new buildings push the state of the art. This supports the broader site goals to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. The South San Francisco (SSF) site is responsible for 62% of Genentech’s total onsite energy use and they achieved a 4% reduction in total energy use between 2013 and 2014 despite doubling production output and an increase of 5% in headcount. Natural gas use was reduced by 9% in that time period due to to more steam production in production operations and ongoing work to optimize HVAC operation campus wide. Genentech participates in the USGBC Best Buildings Challenge with a goal of 20% reductions in energy, water and waste. The SSF site reduced energy use across 5 buildings by 33% per employee in two years and between 2009 and 2014, reduced onsite energy use per employee by 24%, exceeding its goal of 15%, from 153 GJ/person to 130 GJ/person in 2014. Onsite energy use data are externally audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers as part of the annual Roche Group sustainability data verification process.

Flagship Project: Genentech HTA Building

• Project type: new construction

• Project Name: Hilltop A, Bldg 35

• Address: 1475 Grandview Drive, South San Francisco, CA

• Number of buildings: 1

• Floor area: 260,000 sf

• Occupants: 1200

• Site: 173 acres

• Summary Table

The most recent new building at the South San Francisco site is the “Hilltop A” HTA/Bldg 35, a 7-story, 260,000-sf general office use building, completed in early 2015 and to be occupied by September 2015. The new building is contributes to their strategy to reduce emissions at this site.

Genentech engaged Perkins and Will for the architectural design, with engineering design by Arup. The building is important not just as the newest on their site but because it incorporated a series of novel design studies intended not only to enhance this building but to provide a basis for enhanced design of future construction as well.

The design included two office wings connected by a large atrium. The longer axis of the building is oriented 22 degrees to the west of south. The primary office space is conditioned with a VAV system that makes use of outside for conditioning when possible and draws cooling water from a site wide central system when needed. The atrium space is conditioned with a radiant slab (see related Key Strategy). The envelope has relatively large glazed areas (glass type and area varies with orientation) with exterior fixed shading that varies with orientation and double, spectrally selective low-E glazing and dynamic interior roller shades linked to responsive daylight dimmable LED light fixtures (see related Key Strategy). Webcor was retained as the contractor with the challenge of making these complex design solutions deliver on their promise. Webcor had previously worked on other bay area buildings that also specified dynamic shading and dimmable lighting and noted that since these were not standard practice and routinely specified, that there were challenges getting the design and operational details to work effectively. Webcor posed the following challenge to Genentech: “For a new building design, can we answer these questions in the affirmative?:

1. Do we understand how actual energy performance will correlate to predicted performance?

2. Will we be providing a consistently comfortable work environment for all employees at all times?

3. Is the space plan optimal; e.g. are we effectively using office space near windows and controlling lighting to service all work areas?

4. Will the facility management team know how to operate all controls and systems so as to deliver consistent and reliable performance?”

The owner/contractor team agreed that the answer was generally “not always”, so they embarked on a rapid turnaround project to answer these questions for their new building that had been designed, with construction just underway. Although the primary building design had been completed, they had not yet specified the final lighting systems or lighting controls (LED, indirect fixtures with up and down independent sources, all sources dimmable, variable color temperature control); interior automated shading systems (automation sequences, control setpoints, roller shade optical properties, shade interior appearance, override capabilities); and office furniture systems (system type, location relative to window wall).

Genentech engaged Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to assist in optimizing interior features that are critical to energy use and occupant acceptance; e.g. lighting, lighting controls, automated shading, and related space planning features that impact thermal and visual comfort. These tests were conducted in LBNL’s FLEXLAB (Facility for Low Energy Experiments in Buildings) and test results were used to make final design decisions for the building. Their plan is to compare these results to performance in the occupied building and use these findings to influence future building designs. (Genentech 2014 video)

The contractor proposed and the owner agreed to conduct a series of studies to address key unresolved design issues while the primary building was under construction. This imposed tough time constraints, as final design decisions had to be made and orders placed so as not to delay final occupancy. Since the building had fixed external shading that differed by orientation, a 20’ wide by 30’ deep space in the rotating testbed in FLEXLAB was used. This allowed sequential testing of three primary orientations for solar control, glare and daylight ( E, S, W) with weekly reconfigurations of the space after rotation by 90 degrees (fixed external shading was relocated as appropriate for each orientation and lighting fixtures were realigned internally). Iterative testing was conducted over a 6-month period with changing solar angles, under both clear, partly cloudy and overcast days built a database and experiential base on which final choices could be made. Interior measurements were made on light level distribution throughout the space, glare conditions at multiple task locations, thermal comfort measurements near the glazed façade, and lighting power measurements of each fixture. Control of the lighting was a particular challenge due to challenges of sensor placement and calibration with both the independent uplight and downlight components. Measured data was used to recalibrate lighting sensors to provide light levels that most consistently met targets under all sun and sky conditions. Different shade fabrics, interior shade finishes, control setpoints and shade positions were all explored to optimize visual and thermal comfort and still provide daylight savings. Initial testing under the spring season found 60% lighting energy savings in open plan office areas were achieved by tuning the lighting controls beyond the default daylight dimming baseline commissioned by the lighting control vendor.

Detailed iterative analysis of data from these design alternatives led to design recommendations for each of these topics. These were documented in a technical report and supplemented by onsite visits by Genentech staff who were able to work in the mockup to experience the operational issues, which allowed confirmation of reported findings. A key finding was the measurement of thermal and visual comfort in proximity to the window wall with proper shade and glare control. The study concluded that with reliable thermal and visual comfort near the curtain wall the furniture systems can be placed ~2 feet closer to the window than with conventional solutions, thus “recapturing” ~2sf of floor area per lineal foot of façade. With a desire to comfortably accommodate as many staff as possible and with construction costs in the range of ~$500/sf, this represents a very large first cost savings that, in principle, pays for the incremental cost of automated shading and related light control features (even before energy savings are counted).

Genentech wants to extend this “performance experiment” further with two additional tasks to close the loop and inform future Genentech building designs. The test findings will first be confirmed during a “burn in” period after the building has been turned over to the owner by the contractor but before occupancy. A series of prototypical spaces will be tested over a one-month period to confirm both design predictions and implementation in the actual building. Note that traditional "Commissioning" is supposed to ensure that each component and system works "as intended" but does not always guarantee that the overall performance results for comfort and savings are achieved. This "burn-in" task extends the scope of traditional start up functions to better ensure that occupancy has fewer unexpected challenges.

Feedback from occupants is crucial to continuous refinement of corporate real estate. Approximately six months after occupancy the LBNL team will initiate a post occupancy survey in conjunction with continued data collection to determine if the design “as-operated” meets expectations. This approach is intended not only to optimize the operations of this building but to further inform future Genentech design, construction, and operational efforts. Implementing state of the art controls in a manner that saves real energy and meets occupant comfort needs throughout the year has been an on going challenge in many new buildings. This project intends to break new ground in this area and set new expectations for high performance design that delivers on its promises.

Documentation

Roche Annual Report, 2014, p125 http://www.roche.com/gb14e.pdf

Genentech Facilties 10 Year Master Plan, Annual Report 2014 http://ci-ssf-ca.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=4&clip_id=772&meta_id=56531

Genentech statement of corporate design philosophy and building performance goals: (video) http://www.gene.com/stories/flexlab-and-the-future-of-energy-efficiency