Project description
This new 61,200-square-foot chemistry building on the Colorado State University campus provides research offices and advanced laboratory space, including facilities designed for hood-intensive synthetic chemistry programs. The building was designed to support high-performance research environments while meeting stringent sustainability goals.
Air-handling units with heat recovery coils were installed in a partially redundant configuration that separates laboratory and office ventilation systems. Each of the four air-handling units includes a Konvekta heat-recovery system, which significantly improves energy efficiency compared with traditional recovery methods. Mechanical equipment is controlled through a centralized Building Management System to optimize operations.
Building heating is supplied via campus steam, connected to redundant heat exchangers, and the campus chilled-water system provides cooling. Lighting throughout the building incorporates both LED and high-efficiency fluorescent sources, with automatic controls, including occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting, in circulation areas, offices, and meeting rooms.
The building achieved LEED Platinum certification, reflecting CSU’s commitment to high-efficiency laboratory design and sustainable campus development.
Guiding Principles for the Design
- Laboratory Exhaust Systems
- Reliable Campus Utilities
- Sustainable Lab Design
- Heat Recovery Solutions
- Flexible Infrastructure
- Energy-Conscious Engineering
- Redundant Mechanical Systems
- LEED Platinum Certified