Project Showcase: Gilead NB324

Amy Pastor, EXP
Nicole Kho, Gilead Sciences, Inc.

Gilead has committed to creating healthier and sustainable buildings worldwide for their employees and researchers. On the Foster City Campus, a number of buildings have achieved LEED certification, including the LEED Gold 365,000 SF office / laboratory building, B324. Winner of the ISPE Facility of the Year 2021 Special Recognition for "Operational Agility: COVID-19 Impact," B324 quickly implemented improvements to the facility, which allowed researchers to work under heightened biosafety protocols. The open-space layout enabled research teams to work on campus during California's shelter-in-place directive while collaborating in a safe environment.

During this time, the project was finalizing the submission to GBCI. The team observed that the anticipated building energy use was significantly higher than the energy model predicted. The team calibrated the model and updated the energy results to match real-time data. The analysis allowed the team to determine where conservation measures were not properly implemented during construction and where certain operational efficiencies could not be utilized as it would negatively impact the safety of the occupants.

The session will showcase the original design, review operational agility measures that allowed for continued operations during the pandemic, discuss challenges to meeting the original sustainable targets, and outline the solutions resulting from a collaborative team effort that helped achieve a LEED Gold project.

Learning Objectives

• To learn about the high-performance design of the building;
• To review the operational agility of the project that allowed for this critical building to continue research during the early months of the pandemic;
• To compare the predicted versus actual energy usage of the building; and
• To outline the results from the energy model calibration efforts and successful completion of the LEED Gold project.

Biographies:

Amy Pastor is the Vice President of Sustainability for EXP. Amy has 18 years of experience in design and commissioning of high performance buildings. She has personally worked on over 200 LEED Certified projects. Amy takes immense pride in building better, including lasting relationships with clients and quality, sustainable buildings, without surrendering the integrity of the design.

Nicole's career has focused on embedding a sustainable mindset and actions to drive positive impact for the environment and human health. She is a Director for Gilead Sciences, Inc. Corporate Sustainability Team, and is responsible for the oversight of Gilead's Climate Change Strategy and related ESG reporting.

Note: Abstracts and biographies are displayed as submitted by the author(s) with the exception of minor edits for style, grammar consistency, and length.