The Rebirth of Charles Darwin Hall—A Case Study of the Challenges and Opportunities Encountered in the Renovation of a 1960’s Era Undergraduate Science Building at Sonoma State University

Bruce Walker, Sonoma State University
Todd See, Flack + Kurtz Inc.
Kyle Elliott, Chong Partners Architecture

Charles Darwin Hall was originally designed and constructed as the first science building on the campus of Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park, CA) in 1967. The four-level, 100,000 gsf concrete structure has been home to the campus's six science departments for the past 37 plus years, which includes Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, Math and Computer Sciences. Our design team's primary mission has been to provide these six distinct departments and their undergraduate science programs with beautiful, flexible and functional space in a completely renovated version of the existing building. All of the existing building will be demolished with the exception of the primary structure and enclosure and all MEP systems will be replaced in full. We have made many issues of sustainable design an integral part of the team's decision making process in both architectural and engineering solutions. We expect this renovated building to perform at significantly higher levels with regard to the people who will use it and maintain it and the energy resources it consumes and we have strategies in place to measure some of those levels before and after the building is occupied.

Findings:

The first decision was the biggest one—whether to renovate the building or build new. It was determined that renovating the existing structure could be cost effective and would not impede the mission to create a lab building fit for the demands of the 21st century. This decision took many factors into account. For example, verifying that floor-to-floor clearance was sufficient for laboratory mechanical distribution and that relocating occupants during construction was deemed feasible, etc. Once the decision to renovate was in place, our team including campus facilities staff, faculty, architects and engineers began to assess the possibilities for improving the new design's energy and space utilization efficiency. We began metering the existing energy loads for the building and have relied on that data to help shape our design criteria for systems. For instance, we are using an empirically derived watts/ sf to help determine our electrical load instead of relying solely upon historical data for similar building types. We have also given more usable space back to the floors by consolidating the many existing vertical mechanical distribution shafts into two primary shafts and locating fume hood intensive labs, like Chemistry, on the top floor to minimize vertical shaft space needed. The existing building's site orientation, mass and narrow width (<80') will also provide excellent solar thermal and day lighting opportunities and we are factoring this into our load calculations as well.

Our Conclusions and Anticipated Results
At the planning and design stages it is important to adhere to a modular approach to lab and office space planning and systems design (i.e., laying out similar components of the building in the same way throughout) to ensure a high degree of future flexibility. Renovations require an even more vigilant adherence to modular planning given the dimensional limitations of the existing structure, like column grid spacing, which cannot be changed easily. By designing systems to accommodate change easily in size or demand, we give the building a longer useful life, and thereby maximize the use of resources expended today.

Some of the measurable results we expect to see in this building are:

• Zero energy input for cooling the building - by taking advantage of Sonoma County's mild climate, we have employed the use of indirect/ direct evaporative cooling units and expect that the building will be entirely cooled from these systems.
• Better thermal performance of new glazing systems.
• Much improved functionality of lab/ office/ classroom environments through better acoustics, lighting and indoor air quality (as seen in faculty retention rates and student enrollment figures).
• Significant overall reduction of energy used in the building.
  

Labs21 Connection:

The design of Darwin Hall is grounded in the approach presented by Labs21. Early in the design process, we met with Labs21 and PG&E to discuss project goals and approach. As part of these early discussions, the decision was made to monitor the electrical loads within the existing building for an entire semester. Based on feedback from these measurements, design decisions have been adjusted, "right sizing" loads as part of the electrical system and, because of their direct correlation, the mechanical loads.

The design team is working on a number of avenues to improve energy efficiency, control cost, and maximize the return on investments, including:

• The use of indirect/direct evaporative cooling (IDEC) to meet all cooling needs,
• Incorporating heat rejection for the process chilled water system into the design of the IDEC units.
• Using variable volume controls to control lab airflows down to a minimum of six air changes.
• Integrating the emergency power system for Darwin Hall into that of an adjacent building, thereby saving cost, reducing materials used, minimizing particulate emissions.
• Attention to lighting design.
  

Biograpies:

Bruce Walker, the Senior Director of Capital Planning, Design and Construction at Sonoma State University for the last seven years, has managed the implementation of an aggressive $250,000,000 building program. Sonoma State University is relatively small campus (7,400 students) located just north of San Francisco - one of California's premier public undergraduate institutions dedicated to the liberal arts and sciences and known for its active use of technology. Prior to joining the University, he spent fifteen years with several architectural firms involved in the design and construction of numerous educational and hospitality projects. He is a graduate of School of Architecture at Texas A&M University.

Todd See is a Vice President in the San Francisco office of Flack+Kurtz Inc. Over the last 13 years, he has been involved in the design, specification and construction of numerous laboratory projects, most recently the Donald Bren Center for Environmental Studies at UC Santa Barbara. His designs focus on maximizing the energy efficiency of mechanical systems that meet the project objectives while keeping within the constraints of the client's budget. His design experience includes corporate headquarters, historic preservation, and mixed use facilities in addition to laboratories. He is a graduate of the Penn State University, with a degree in Architectural Engineering.

Kyle Elliott is a Senior Designer at the San Francisco based architecture firm Chong Partners Architecture. With over 15 years experience in the profession, he has been involved in the planning, design and construction of numerous laboratory facilities in both academic and private settings and he has helped his firm establish planning and cost guidelines and benchmarks for various types of science facilities. His design experience ranges from hospitals, transportation facilities and schools to campus master planning. He is a graduate of the School of Architecture at Oklahoma State University.

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