California Institute of Technology's Linde + Robinson Laboratory for Global Environmental Science
Eric Soladay, Rumsey Engineers
Susan McDonald, Architectural Resources Group
The historic renovation of the Linde + Robinson Laboratory, a 70,000-square-foot laboratory on the California Institute of Technology campus in Pasadena, California, achieves several groundbreaking firsts, including the first LEED® Platinum-targeted renovation of a historic laboratory building; the lowest energy use of any physical science research laboratory; the use of radiant cooling with compressor-free cooling 50 percent of the year; and the repurposing of a historic coelostat solar telescope to provide daylighting. The energy use of this laboratory is reduced by more than 80 percent compared with a typical laboratory in this climate, through a combination of innovative strategies including a 50 percent reduction in laboratory equipment plug loads, compressor-free cooling, decoupling of ventilation air from cooling, radiant ceiling panels, low-pressure drop systems, and photovoltaic panels for onsite energy production.
The first step in creating an energy-efficient building is to reduce building loads. This was facilitated by many sustainable features of the original 1932 building design. The concrete structure has significant thermal mass and small punched windows typical of buildings of that period, which were designed before air conditioning became widely used. Consequently, the building's window-to-wall ratio is less than 15 percent, dramatically reducing solar and thermal heat gain. The building's narrow footprint provides generous daylight despite a smaller window area, and its concrete thermal mass acts as a flywheel that "smoothes out" peak loads, further reducing the mechanical energy required for cooling.
One of the most innovative cooling strategies used in the design is the compressor-free generation of medium-temperature chilled water for sensible cooling. A planned rooftop cooling tower will produce 58-degree water at night more than 50 percent of the year in Pasadena. Also, the original coelostat solar telescope, a solar pit extending 50 feet below the basement that was used for experiments, is repurposed into a 60,000-gallon thermal energy storage tank, which provides cooling water to building systems. This system provides sensible cooling for the building at an annual energy use of only 0.22 kilowatts/ton. Other advanced energy efficiency strategies in the project design include reducing fan energy by more than 50 percent for the laboratories; decoupling ventilation from cooling; and eliminating reheat by providing neutral (not cold) air.
This innovative laboratory design uses holistic strategies that account for all building components and processes and provides an affordable, safe, high-performance laboratory with excellent energy efficiency and sustainable features. It also demonstrates that historic buildings often have unrecognized sustainable features that increase their potential for adaptive reuse.
Biographies:
Eric Soladay is an innovative, goal-oriented mechanical engineer responsible for the procurement, management, and design of building engineering system projects with architectural and social significance, sustainable and efficient systems, and cost- and maintenance-conscious designs. As project manager and mechanical engineer of record at Rumsey Engineers, Mr. Soladay has led several significant projects, including the ADC Green Datacenter, a 180,000-square-foot data center with groundbreaking energy-efficient design; University Plaza, a 190,000-square-foot mixed-used retail/commercial development in Palo Alto, California; and the 30,000-square-foot Packard Foundation Headquarters, a commercial/institutional zero energy building. Before coming to Rumsey Engineers, Mr. Soladay was a senior engineer at Gotama Building Engineers in Los Angeles, California, where his projects included laboratories and clean manufacturing facilities, hospitals, academic buildings, and central plant design for a wide range of clients including: Advanced Bionics, Scripps Health: Memorial La Jolla Hospital; Mercy Hospital; Glendale Memorial; City of Hope's Beckman Research Institute; West Los Angeles College; Hyperion Environmental Learning Center; Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Morongo Band of Mission Indians. Mr. Soladay is a LEED Accredited Professional and a Registered Engineer in California and Texas.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree with honors in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He is a board member of the Southern California ASHRAE Chapter.
Susan McDonald is a registered architect with 27 years of professional experience in diverse project types ranging from small renovations to large institutional new construction. Her project experience includes historic restorations, historic building seismic retrofits, renovations, institutional buildings, building evaluation reports, and laboratories. She served as the project architect and manager for the Pasadena City Hall seismic upgrade and rehabilitation project, a LEED Gold certified building. Ms. McDonald recently completed a feasibility study for Monterey County Old Jail and the California Institute of Technology's Linde + Robinson Laboratory Center for Global Environmental Science. She is currently serving as the project manager for the Sacramento Railyards Central Shops Core and Shell Rehabilitation Design.