Project Description
This project was recognized in the AIA Committee on Architecture for Education’s 2017 Education Facility Design Awards.
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Research laboratories are among the most energy-intensive building types. But with ECE planned as a center for research into energy-efficient technology, the client challenged SmithGroupJJR to deliver new standards in building energy performance – and even to explore opportunities that could potentially enable the building to supply its own energy.
Capturing the spirit of a department that pushes the limits of technological innovation, SmithGroupJJR’s ECE design also demonstrates a commitment to sustainability. Displacement and demand-controlled ventilation, heat-recovery chillers and chilled-beam technology help bring energy use to 46% below ASHRAE 90.1-2007 standards, an exceptional achievement considering the energy-intensive nature of a lab facility with an instructional clean room. In fact, the design targets LEED Platinum certification, and may even achieve an EPA EnergyStar rating of 99 out of 100.
But most importantly, ECE is programmed as a place where curiosity is celebrated and intellectual collisions occur naturally. Traffic flow and sightlines are carefully designed to foster collaboration, and interdisciplinary learning and cooperation.