Sustainable Design Professional I

HKS Architects; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

HKS Architects is seeking a motivated individual to focus on building energy modeling to enhance energy performance. A role that supports project teams in adopting sustainable design practices, candidates should have a degree in relevant fields and an eagerness to learn and innovate while contributing to various projects.

Qualifications

• 0-1 years of experience preferred.
• Accreditation such as LEED GA preferred.
• Familiarity with energy modeling applications and graphic software is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Develop dynamic thermal and energy simulation models for buildings.
• Analyze energy consumption and provide recommendations.
• Collaborate with design teams to promote sustainable strategies.

Skills

Sustainability

Energy Modeling

Architectural Design

Team Collaboration

Problem Solving

Education

Accredited professional degree in Architecture, Engineering, Sustainable Design

Tools

Rhino

Revit

AutoCAD

IES VE

Energy Plus

Job description

Overview:

This role will have a focus on building energy modeling on assisting building owners and design teams with optimizing their architectural, mechanical, and electrical designs to maximize a building's energy performance through building energy modeling in alignment with the 2030 Commitment. Additionally, support project teams using a wide range of developing architectural and engineering professional skills. Performs basic design and technical tasks requiring application of standard techniques and knowledge of sustainability while working under general supervision. Eager to learn, highly organized and willing to contribute creatively to the team.

Responsibilities:

• Prepares whole-building dynamic thermal and energy building simulation models for various building types and scales, including advanced mechanical systems evaluations, architectural response to enhancing daylighting, lighting control systems and detailed thermal and moisture response of building façade components
• Performs detailed engineering analysis for the purpose of minimizing energy consumption and related greenhouse gas emissions related to a building’s architectural design, construction and operation
• Performs comfort studies, life cycle costs analysis, energy simulation, daylight simulations, solar shading analysis and renewable energy evaluation to provide analysis-based recommendations that inform design and operational decisions made by architects, engineers, contactors and operators
• Supports DesignGreen team and Enterprise leadership to expand and further integrate design performance, building energy modeling and building operation modeling for all projects across the firm, including informing design decisions by predicting a building’s performance with respect to energy efficiency, passive and active design strategies, building massing, daylight availability, glare control, shading analysis, thermal comfort, natural ventilation, mechanical systems alternatives, loads analysis, renewable energy systems integration and similar design factors/elements throughout the project’s life cycle
• Confidently predicts a building’s anticipated energy use and corresponding energy savings, as compared to a standard baseline by applying whole-building energy simulation and verify performance through industry standard calibration procedures for post-occupancy evaluations
• Collaborates with design teams to promote integrative sustainable strategies and leverage complex data sets to support design decisions and research
• Assists with specialized project and enterprise research activities including but not limited to energy, environmental, carbon and general sustainability issues
• Reviews professional publications/journals and identifies areas of opportunity (innovation) to increase energy efficiency by utilizing new or existing technologies, provide creative market transformation ideas, and/or innovative implementation strategies
• Advances enterprise level Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts such as the AIA 2030 Commitment and the United Nations Global Compact
• Produces technical reports and presentation materials
• Participates in team meetings to discuss project issues, technical issues and coordination with other disciplines

Qualifications:

• Accredited professional degree in Architecture, Engineering, Sustainable Design or related field
• 0-1 years of experience
• Sustainable design accreditation (e.g., LEED GA) preferred
• Familiarity with design and energy modeling applications such as Rhino, Grasshopper, Radiance, DIVA, REVIT, AutoCAD, Sketchup, IES VE, Sefaira, Energy Plus, EnergyPro preferred
• Experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketchup and InDesign graphic software preferred
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite preferred
• Familiarity with energy modeling preferred
• Knowledge of sustainability and integrated design guidelines
• Familiarity in interpreting and applying high-performance building standards such as ANSI, ASHRAE, IESNA and ASTM as well as building energy codes such as IECC and T24
• Familiarity of architectural building systems
• Working knowledge of building physics, energy transfer
• Ability to research and apply/incorporate into technical documents
• Ability to maintain existing client relationships and build new client relationships
• Ability to communicate and present ideas in a clear, concise and professional manner both verbally and in writing
• Ability to problem solve and apply innovative solutions
• Ability to work and collaborate in a team environment
• Ability to work on multiple projects at the same time
• Ability to effectively meet deadlines at expected quality
• Travel will be required

If you currently work for HKS, please submit your application via the Internal Careers Portal.

HKS is an EEO/AA Employer: M/F/Disabled/Veteran