The Science of Green
Aug 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Raymond Cekauskas and Mark Hartmann
An integrated approach can incorporate sustainability into complex science and laboratory facilities.
Integrating students, city and county
As one of the nation's largest crime laboratories, the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center at California State University Los Angeles (CSULA) combines academic teaching and research programs with the operating crime laboratories of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the city of Los Angeles Police.
This 209,000-square-foot facility creates a signature gateway to CSULA's campus, and accommodates about 400 staff members, as well as the university's School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics.
Sustainability is a key component of this facility, which received LEED silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Energy performance of the building is enhanced through the use of high-efficiency variable-speed chillers; premium-efficiency variable-speed pumps on the secondary cooling and heating hot-water pumps; and super-efficient built-up variable-volume air-handling units. Continuous dimming daylighting controls and occupancy sensors are used for light fixtures in lab and administration areas, and the building's narrow floor plate maximizes natural light to interior spaces.
Situated near public transportation, the facility also features a 300,000-gallon rain-storage system in the north parking area, which reduces the need to use potable water for irrigation. A cool roof reflects solar energy to reduce the heat-island effect and lower summer HVAC cooling loads.
On the inside, laboratory fume hoods are continuously exhausted and supplied 100 percent outside-air makeup, while maintaining negative pressure in relation to adjacent spaces to protect occupants.
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