City College of San Francisco Joint-Use Academic Facility Earns LEED Gold

The City College of San Francisco Joint-Use Academic Facility, constructed by Lend Lease's Bovis Lend Lease business, has recently received LEED-NC Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Lend Lease completed construction of the 110,000-sq-ft joint-use academic facility on City College's Ocean Campus under a Construction Manager at Risk delivery contract in 2010. The three-story building, which accommodates classrooms, specialized laboratories, offices, study space and student development facilities, features a multitude of sustainable design elements and construction initiatives.

A louvered wind-driven central atrium and skylight system takes advantage of natural ventilation by allowing airflow from the perimeter classrooms to be exhausted through the glazed skylights at the roof level, maximizing air circulation and passive cooling. This unique system is the largest employed in the U.S. The facility also features an expanded hallway concept that encourages informal learning and faculty interaction in a vibrant congenial atmosphere.

A vegetated green roof reduces storm water runoff and reduces the heat-island effect from the roof. Radiant flooring distributes heating and cooling efficiently and reduces energy costs by focusing thermal distribution at the occupant level. A high-performance window system provides shading for the west-facing facade. Low-VOC (low odor) adhesives, sealants, paints/coatings and carpet products also help to optimize the quality of the indoor environment. Integrated photovoltaic (PV) panels at the building's south entry generate solar electricity, reducing building operating costs and carbon emissions. The use of post-consumer/green materials, and recycling techniques reduced the need for new materials and diverted over 70% of construction waste away from landfills.

Lend Lease simultaneously completed construction on the Central Utility Plant, which is located in the basement of the joint-use facility. Supported by a massive, 400-well ground loop geothermal exchange system the company installed on the campus in 2009, the Central Plant provides hot and chilled water for the hydronic heating and cooling systems for the facility and for four additional campus buildings as they are brought online in the future. The HVAC system utilizes water-cooled chillers and heat pumps, and a primary/secondary pumping system capable of delivering demand-based chilled and hot water utilities across the campus through a fully automated building management system.

The team delivered the project to City College a week ahead of schedule. The team worked with the owners, designers, engineers and government agencies early to collaborate on phasing, logistics, constructability, approvals, quality and sustainability. These highly collaborative relationships greatly contributed to the successes of the project. Strategies such as an open-book bidding process, building information modeling, phased construction and integrated methodologies for state approvals added true value to the project.

Work is underway on City College of San Francisco's newest campus, a high-rise building and smaller annex facility in Chinatown.

Source: PR Newswire