TK Elevator · The Battery Atlanta
Innovation & Qualification Center
Atlanta, Georgia
- 420' test tower
- LEED Gold
- ~12% embodied carbon
- >40% potable water
- 100% renewable electricity
The IQC test tower and campus, The Battery Atlanta · Photo: Brasfield & Gorrie
Sustainability before design lock.
On a 420-foot test tower and headquarters campus, I led sustainability integration across the multidisciplinary design and construction process — working alongside Gensler, engineering, construction, operations and internal leadership so carbon, energy, water, materials and long-term performance became design criteria, not a certification exercise added afterwards.
- My role
- Owner-side sustainability lead from early design through delivery and operations, working with Gensler, Brasfield & Gorrie, engineering and TK Elevator leadership.
- Scale
- Early design → delivery → operations
Sustainability influenced physical decisions before they became expensive or impossible to change.
The system
- 01 →
Early Design
- Sustainability requirements established
- 02 →
Whole-Building Analysis
- Lifecycle assessment
- Energy studies
- Water analysis
- 03 →
Design Decisions
- Structural / material choices
- Concrete mix optimization
- Lower-carbon materials
- Building systems
- 04 →
Project Delivery
- LEED management
- Contractor / design-team coordination
- Verification
- 05
Operations
- Renewable electricity
- Smart-building / energy performance
- Long-term operating strategy
The IQC campus
216,292 square feet of research, testing and training space, the tallest elevator test tower in North America, and a public lobby where the machinery is the exhibit.
Decisions & detail
What I led
- Worked directly with Gensler and the design team
- Led sustainability integration across architecture, engineering, construction, and internal stakeholders
- Coordinated whole-building lifecycle assessment
- Helped evaluate embodied-carbon impacts and material alternatives
- Coordinated energy-performance studies and requirements
- Influenced material-selection strategy
- Managed the LEED strategy and certification
- Integrated water-efficiency requirements
- Helped establish the renewable-electricity strategy for operations
- Translated technical analysis into decisions the team could act on
Whole-building lifecycle assessment
Whole-building LCA was used during design to understand where embodied carbon was concentrated and where material and structural decisions could meaningfully reduce impact. Monica led the sustainability integration around this work with the design team, including Gensler and project consultants, and used the analysis to help inform project decisions — resulting in a ~12% embodied-carbon reduction and ~2.36 million pounds of CO₂ avoided.
Materials selected with carbon in view
Lifecycle analysis and sustainability criteria informed material-selection discussions during design, with concrete mix optimization as one public example. Materials were evaluated before procurement, not documented after the fact.
Energy performance was part of design
Energy studies were incorporated during design to evaluate building performance and operating implications. Monica coordinated sustainability requirements across the design team and carried the strategy into ongoing operations, including renewable-electricity procurement — reaching 100% renewable electricity.
Water
>40% potable-water reduction, with water efficiency integrated into building and site design.
LEED Gold — validation, not the strategy
LEED Gold provided third-party validation of the project’s sustainability performance, but the work began much earlier — in the design criteria, lifecycle analysis, energy studies, material decisions, water strategy, and operating model.
Results
- LEED Gold (New Construction), 2022
- ~12% lower embodied carbon than typical construction, through concrete mix optimization with slag and fly ash; about 2.36 million lb CO2 avoided
- >40% less potable water than baseline, about 60,000 gallons a year
- 100% renewable electricity since opening in 2022, through a Cobb EMC green tariff
Representing TK Elevator with our utility partner
Discussing the renewable-electricity partnership supporting TK Elevator's Innovation & Qualification Center.
Watch supplier interview ↗