ENERGY STAR Building Design Profile

The founder of Thornburg Investment Management and Thornburg Mortgage envisioned a corporate headquarters that maximizes sustainability and efficiency through thoughtful design and engineering. To this end, the owner partnered with architect Dekker/Perich/Sabatini to design Thornburg Campus, a 100,000-square-foot office building that serves as a model of energy efficiency in Santa Fe, NM. The architect has extensive experience incorporating appropriate sustainable strategies into its designs, and also takes into account the importance of energy — and water — efficiency in New Mexico's unique arid and semi-arid climate.

Both the architect and the owner believe that energy performance must be quantifiable and verifiable, and that EPA's Target Finder tool provides the appropriate metrics to set and evaluate energy performance goals of building designs. When the estimated energy use was calculated using the tool, Thornburg Campus rated 92 out of 100, thus achieving Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR.

Thornburg is one of the largest employers in Santa Fe and, as a community leader, developed this sustainable building to set an example of responsible stewardship and superior energy performance for others to follow. The building will provide access to exterior courtyards and balconies, and is designed to maximize views and provide natural daylighting with the introduction of large glazed but carefully fenestrated portions of the façade.

Additional design strategies used include efficient lighting and lighting sensors, under-floor air distribution, evaporative cooling, and a thoroughly insulated building envelope. These strategies, among many others, are estimated to reduce the energy use of Thornburg Campus by 49 percent compared with an average building of similar type.

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