Melink New HQ2

Commercial buildings and homes consume a tremendous amount of energy in the U.S. and represent a majority of our country’s carbon footprint. We need to achieve zero-energy on all new construction by the year 2030, and the millions of existing buildings by 2050.

At Melink Corporation’s second headquarters, Motz Engineering helped develop a net zero-energy building. The facility not only doubled their office and manufacturing space, but also, is one of the greenest buildings in the world. Additionally, Motz identified options to utilize Phase Change Materials (PCM) to store energy.

The main energy source for Melink’s new building is the sun. The sun naturally lights the spaces inside, passively heat the building during the winter, and generate most of the electricity it needs for the HVAC system and other loads. In addition, as the sun traverses the sky every day, sensors automatically close window shades to minimize the solar heat gain and air conditioning loads during the spring, summer, and fall.

Net zero energy is also achieved through the proper selection of materials for the building envelope. Precast concrete panels absorb the sun’s energy during the day and release it at night. Extra insulation in the walls and roof ensure that heat-flow into the building is minimized during the summer and heat-flow out of the building is minimized during the winter. This helps control the energy costs of heating and cooling the facility.

The most innovative feature of the building is the HVAC system. It uses a rainwater cistern in conjunction with an air-source and ground-source heat pumps to heat and cool the building.