Exemplary Sustainability Analysis and Design
Dirk von Below, AIA, LEED AP®, Flad Architects
Richard Pass, AIA, LEED AP, Flad Architects
Spanning 580,000 gross square feet, the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS) at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, is a new interdisciplinary research and instructional facility for physical, chemistry, and biological sciences completed in 2011. With a budget of CA $354 million, this project was the first LEED® building on campus with a goal of Silver certification through LEED Canada New Construction (NC) version 1.0. The investigations into sustainable innovations performed during the design were extensive. In addition to the mandatory energy models, daylight studies were evaluated to balance costs and benefits. The result is a building that uses a double façade, extensive daylight controls, right sized HVAC systems, hydronic cooling, heat recovery, and fan coils in the laboratories, resulting in a 41 percent energy savings.
By including all stakeholders from the outset, the team established concrete goals at the beginning of the project and encouraged an integrated design process. This integrated design process enabled the team to find innovative solutions that could be carried out through the whole project and be paid for by the available funds.
Due to its northern location, abundant natural daylight was a primary goal of the design. Significant amounts of transparency are provided inside of the building, enhancing the user's environment and promoting the scientific work to the entire campus through open access and views. In order to allow the low winter sunlight to penetrate deeply into the building, the design team managed glare and access to direct sunlight while balancing the energy losses and heat gains throughout the year. One major component became the design of the south face of the facility, which incorporates a double glazed façade and automated blinds facing the main campus quad.
Following the guidance of the Labs21 Environmental Performance Criteria, ventilation rates in the laboratories were reduced by limiting the size of fume hoods, by designing flexible laboratories that reduce the need for space that has to be ventilated with once-through air, and by reducing face velocities in fume hoods to 60 feet per minute. Further technologies that help reduce the energy consumption in the laboratories were heat recovery, fan coil systems, and daylight harvesting.
By employing a thoughtful and balanced approach, the facility achieved an energy savings of 41 percent below the baseline and a water savings of 40 percent below standards. CCIS will be certified under the Canadian LEED system and is on track to achieve LEED Silver, with the possibility of achieving LEED Gold certification.
Biographies:
Dirk von Below, who served as project manager on CCIS, has 20 years of comprehensive architectural experience delivering science buildings to private and institutional clients. He has managed large projects that balance state-of-the-art design, efficiency, and environmental design within a tight financial framework. Mr. von Below's project experience includes the International Energy Research and Development Laboratory; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Integrated Biorefinery Research Facility in Golden, Colorado; Stony Brook University's Advanced Energy Center in Stony Brook, New York; and the New York State Department of Energy Conservation's Alternate Fuel Vehicle Research Laboratory in Malta, New York. Mr. von Below is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.
Richard Pass, who served as the laboratory planner for CCIS, has more than 35 years of experience in planning, programming, and implementing technical facilities, ranging in size from 1,200 to 550,000 square feet. His career focus has been on complex renovated and new facilities designed for research, healthcare, and academic clients. Mr. Pass's ability to work with the planning and architectural team, from programming through project closeout, has been well established. Recent clients include Pfizer, Amgen, Eli Lilly and Company, Nanosphere, the Scotts Company, Stanford University, the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Alberta, Purdue University, the City University of New York, and the University of Illinois.