Project Goals and Accomplishments:
•Design a building that was energy efficient especially during the long hot months in which Texas deals with temperatures in excess of 100+ degrees Fahrenheit and when it dips below freezing. The goal was to design a building that was at least 50% more energy efficient than the average of all buildings on campus ◦“Floating” terra-cotta louvers on the building’s exterior respond to the solar exposure in appropriate density.
◦The louver system demonstrates a unique energy efficient shading strategy providing protection from the harsh Texas sun while reducing radiant heat gain.
◦The building’s energy efficiency is designed to perform 41% over Ashrae 90.1, offering $60,000 annual electrical savings representing a 63% improvement over the average of all buildings on campus
•Design a building that controlled light, solar heat gain and provided daylighting to the majority of the interior spaces. ◦The building maximizes Daylight Harvesting while providing 76% of all occupied spaces with natural daylight and 93% of all occupied spaces with views to the outside.
•Design a building that practiced water conservation for a region that is notorious for experiencing long periods of drought ◦The design incorporates water conservation measures such as Automatic sensors in faucets, Dual flush toilets and low flow (1 pint) urinals.
◦There is an 86% water use reduction for domestic potable water and rain water harvesting for irrigation served by a two tank 40,000 gallon cistern. Sewage conveyance is in a primary 20,000 gallon tank supplemented by domestic water as needed.
◦Irrigation is in a secondary 20,000 gallon tank where no domestic water is used. Drought tolerant landscaping and indigenous planting is provided.
•Approach space planning from the perspective of “doing more with less” and one that utilized space efficiently and created opportunities to share space without duplicating space that would sit unoccupied most of the day. ◦An innovative, functional and efficient new space planning protocol was achieved by reducing the number of individual offices in favor of open office planning with multi-use spaces, shared conference and meeting rooms accessible by all departments via public corridors.
◦The benefits of open office space and shared meeting spaces versus individual offices achieved a 73% assignable to non-assignable building space ratio.