Old Ideas Get New Life at Co-Motion Cycles

Old ideas get new life at Co-Motion Cycles

Some of the best new ideas are simply old ideas with a new twist.

For example, at Co-Motion Cycles, they make human powered transportation remarkably similar to the bicycles of 100 years ago. However, although the ideas are similar, the materials and fabrication techniques are definitely high-tech.

Co-Motion recently occupied a new building that displays a similar philosophy. It harnesses two natural forces in a way that was commonplace at the turn of the 20th Century, but with a decidedly modern design.

Architect Galen Ohmart (left) and building owner Dan Vrijmoet agreed from the beginning that the Co-Motion building would capture natural lighting.

“The owners were interested in daylighting and natural ventilation because these features offer a better environment for them and their employees,” says architect Galen Ohmart of Integrare Architecture.

Natural Light
The building stretches out east to west, providing large north and south facing walls. Windows on these long walls provide a large amount of diffuse daylight, rather than the harsh light and excessive heat that would come through east or west facing windows.

“We designed a modern version of a roof monitor to provide more daylight and to distribute it evenly throughout the space,” says Ohmart. A roof monitor is a raised section of roof with windows on both sides. They were common on commercial and industrial buildings before electric lights were widely used.

“One problem that designers have is getting the right amount of glazing,” says Ohmart. “Modeling work at the University of Oregon’s Energy Studies in Buildings Lab optimized the glazing area and showed how lighting and natural cooling would work together.”

With a large part of the lighting requirement coming from daylighting, the electric lights must adapt. Lighting controls continuously adjust the light output to as little as 10 percent. “In the summer, they could turn the electric lights off altogether,” says Ohmart.

Natural Ventilation
This building doesn’t have a conventional air-conditioning system. Instead, fans circulate cool air through the building at night. The tall central roof monitor promotes natural air flow by allowing warmer air to escape near the roof.

Night flush cooling works in this building in part because heat gains have been reduced. Electric lights are used mostly during the darker winter months when heat gain is less problematic.

Window orientation prevents excessive solar heat from entering the building in summer, while encouraging winter heat gain. Rotating “Casablanca” fans mounted on the ceiling also circulate air to improve comfort.

Conventional buildings suffer from design fragmentation. Each system (structural, mechanical, electrical) is developed independently and then incorporated into the same shell. Galen Ohmart’s approach strives to integrate the various systems to work together.

But don’t think that Co-Motion’s executives are too caught up in lighting technology, sun angles or even lower operating costs. They wanted a building like this because it’s a better place to spend time. And when you spend roughly half your waking life in a place, it better be good.

The Co-Motion building demonstrates how new buildings can use natural principles to create a thoroughly modern building that surpasses conventional buildings in both comfort and performance.

This article originally appeared in Efficiency By Design, Fall 2000