Tulsa Arts Complex Showcases Sustainability

The Hardesty Arts Center building is home to the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, OK, including the organization’s administrative offices and its exhibition space, classrooms, woodshop, darkroom, event space, and rooftop artist studios.

Geothermal heating and cooling system is Guthrie Green’s greenest component.

Guthrie Green, an urban re-use project in downtown Tulsa, OK, has been transformed into a public green space and arts complex. It also serves as a testament to sustainability, with numerous green and renewable elements incorporated into its design. According to the project’s CSE firm, Flynt & Kallenberger Consulting Engineers, Broken Arrow, OK, Guthrie Green is a showcase of what can be achieved in green construction, employing the latest and most environmentally responsible technologies available.

Flynt & Kallenberger project manager Justin Roush explained: “All lighting on the site is LED, reducing the overall site demand for electricity, and water runoff on the site is diverted to bio-swales, which help irrigate the landscape and clean the water before it enters the storm sewer. Also, solar panels on the roof of The Dock pavilion contribute to the overall energy demands of the park’s amenities.”

Roush additionally shared that the greenest component of Guthrie Green’s sustainable building plan lies below the grass, benches, and stage. This is where 120 500-ft. geothermal boreholes were drilled prior to the above-ground construction. The boreholes tie into a hybrid system of geothermal heat pumps from ClimateMaster, Oklahoma City, and a ground-mounted cooling tower that serve as the main mechanical systems for the Tulsa Paper Co. and Hardesty Arts Center buildings.

The Tulsa Paper Co. building houses several regional-arts organizations, including the Tulsa Symphony’s chamber hall and administrative offices, the Woody Guthrie Center museum and event space, and 108 Contemporary (formerly known as the Brady Craft Alliance), a non-profit community arts organization that supports Oklahoma’s contemporary fine-craft artists by showcasing their work in a wide range of media. Additionally, the adjacent Hardesty Arts Center building is home to the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, including the organization’s administrative offices

and its exhibition space, classrooms, woodshop, darkroom, event space, and rooftop artist studios.

HEATING AND COOLING The geothermal borehole field, which is organized into 15 operating circuits, provides 600 tons of heating and cooling to both buildings, with the capability of reducing heating and cooling costs by approximately 60%.

“The 600 tons from the geothermal field is supplemented with a 200-ton closed-circuit fluid cooler, which was incorporated into the overall system design and takes the peak demands of all four end-users into account,” said Roush. “Each of the tenants has a water-to-water heat exchanger that enables them to use the loop water on one side while keeping their individual systems separated. That way, if they wanted to create chilled water or put equipment on the roof and use glycol, these elements can’t ultimately end up in the main loop water.”

The mechanical system inside the 40,000-sq.-ft. Tulsa Paper Co. building specifically features 15 geothermal heat-pump systems from ClimateMaster, including nine 8- to 14-ton Tranquility High Efficiency

(TRE) Rooftop series units, four 2- to 6-ton Tranquility 30 Two-Stage (TT) series units, one 7 1/2-ton Tranquility Large (TL) series unit, and one 8-ton Tranquility Compact Belt Drive (TC) series unit. In the 42,500-sq.-ft. Hardesty Visual Arts Center, 59 ClimateMaster geothermal heat pumps are installed, including 19 3/4-, 1-, and 1 1/2-ton Tranquility 20 Single-Stage (TS) series units; 31 2- to 6-ton Tranquility 30 Two-Stage (TT) series units; six 2-ton Tranquility Console (TRC) series units; and three 7- and 8-ton Tranquility Large Vertical (TL) series units.

Transforming a longstanding industrial site into a public space was, in and of itself, a green effort. In the earliest stages of construction, developers recognized that two fuel tanks remained following the removal of a gas station, and an additional 12 were discovered during the initial geothermal borehole field-drilling process. All of these were removed and the land remediated, which further improved the site’s health and environmental value while allowing the project to move forward.

Following the borehole drilling, the project-management team was able to implement its strategic

Top. The Tulsa Paper Co. building houses several regional-arts organizations, including the Tulsa Symphony’s chamber hall and administrative offices, the Woody Guthrie Center museum and event space, and 108, a non-profit community arts organization.

Bottom left. The Woody Guthrie Center museum and event center is housed in the Tulsa Paper Co. building, located in Guthrie Green in the heart of the Tulsa’s Brady Arts District.

Bottom center. The Woody Guthrie Center is dedicated to preserving folksinger Woody Guthrie's body of work and providing educational resources to students, teachers, and academics about Guthrie’s role in American history and his advocacy for social justice.

Bottom right. Guthrie Green facilities provide administrative offices for several arts-related organizations, as well as exhibition space, classrooms, and artist studios.

About Guthrie Green

Once the site of industrial and commercial manufacturing and warehouse facilities in downtown Tulsa, OK, Guthrie Green has, in recent years, been transformed into a public green space and arts complex. Situated on a square block in the heart of the city’s Brady Arts District, Guthrie Green offers an escape from the daily grind, a site for fi tness and other outdoor activities, and a venue for various arts and entertainment events. The park features an outdoor stage, The Dock pavilion, numerous walking and bicycling paths, and seating areas and lawns—along with a calendar of regular activities that encourage Tulsa-area residents to visit and enjoy it. In addition, the renovated Tulsa Paper Co. building and new Hardesty Arts Center building, both located on the Guthrie Green site, house offi ce, meeting, event, performance, gallery, and classroom space for various local organizations, as well as retail shops open to the public.

The project began in 2007, when the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) purchased the industrial site with a vision of creating a green, central gathering space for the blossoming Brady Arts District. In 2009, GKFF engaged Creative Community Builders to work with leadership of The Brady Arts District to help guide the development of the park and to inform the cultivation of commercial, residential, and nonprofi t projects in the neighborhood. As a result of this effort, plans for the unique and compelling Guthrie Green concept were unveiled in 2010.

“This project fi t well into the GKFF mission to break the cycle of poverty through investments in early childhood education, community health, social services, and civic enhancement,” said Stanton Doyle, senior program offi cer at GKFF. “As an organization working to expand opportunities for at-risk populations in Tulsa since 1999, we have recognized the value of improving urban areas like the Brady Arts District, which can, in parallel, elevate the dignity of its surrounding residents, and motivate them to seek better opportunities for success in school and life.”

Nine ClimateMaster Tranquility High Effi ciency Rooftop (TRE) series units installed at the Tulsa Paper Co. building are designed for an extended range of source water temperatures, making them suitable for closed-loop or ground source closed-loop systems.

streetscaping design, focused on fostering a pedestrian-friendly environment while increasing the plant-topavement ratio to sequester CO 2 and reduce electricity demand for cooling. This included low-water vegetation and irrigation management and use of nearly 250 energy-efficient LED lights for pathway illumination in the park and throughout the surrounding Brady and Greenwood neighborhoods.

The project-management team then created Guthrie Green’s various shaded structures, public stage, The Dock pavilion, and seating areas. The latter is a grassy area located directly above the geothermal borehole field and is surrounded by fountains. Additionally, The Dock pavilion, originally the dock for a trucking company, was reimagined as a restaurant, restrooms, more outdoor seating, and a gathering area. Photovoltaic panels affixed to the top of The Dock supply electricity for some of the pavilion lighting, as well as for part of the demand from electric water heaters in the pavilion restrooms.

Since Guthrie Green was completed, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, Tulsa, which contributed funding to the project, has observed the achievement of the project’s original goals. “We wanted to establish the historical Brady Village as a model for the effective use of sustainable-energy alternatives in Tulsa, and this was undoubtedly achieved through the installation of the geothermal field and solar panels,” said Stanton Doyle, senior program officer at GKFF. “In addition to providing this model, we are realizing the benefits of employing renewable energy, including reduced energy demand and consumption and reduced CO 2 emissions in an area with high potential for ozone non-attainment status.”

Doyle additionally shared that the project is meant to foster ground-source heat-pump system installation at-large in Oklahoma and to support businesses in the state that provide expertise in the design, installation, and manufacturing of this equipment.

COST EFFECTIVE “Geothermal is a cost-effective way to heat and cool a

The geothermal borehole fi eld provides 600 tons of heating and cooling, with the capability of reducing heating and cooling costs by approximately 60%. The Tulsa Paper Co. building features 15 geothermal heat-pump systems from ClimateMaster.

space, and it makes sense, particularly in this blighted urban district, as it can substantially reduce costs for local residents and business owners,” Doyle said.

“We are very proud to have had the opportunity to participate in this monumental project, which particularly stands out in its hybrid use of geothermal and tower/ boiler equipment to deliver an optimal balance of firstcost investment and long-term energy savings,” said Raj Hiremath, director of marketing at ClimateMaster. “ClimateMaster is based right here in Oklahoma, which makes this project even more significant as we are regionally exemplifying the advantages of geothermal, while also contributing to our local community.”

In regard to the functioning of the geothermal heat-pump systems since their installation, Flynt & Kallenberger’s Roush said, “They have been up and running since the fall of 2012, and functioning extremely well. In total, the borehole field supplies efficient heating and cooling to about 80,000 sq. ft. of land. I consider the end result to be a success.”

Added David Lam, president of Omni Mechanical Services, Tulsa, the project’s mechanical contractor, “The system is operating just as we had hoped. We consider this project to be a true achievement.”

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