NAU Wins Sustainability Award October 6, 2008
The International Institute of Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), and R&D Magazine have awarded the inaugural "Go Beyond Award" for new construction projects to the Hopkins Architects designed, Northern Arizona University, Applied Research and Development (ARD) building.The Go Beyond Awards have been set up to recognize the leading 'green' lab projects from around the world. The award is further recognition of the building's exemplar sustainability strategies which, earlier this year, helped it achieve one of the highest ever LEED Platinum ratings and reductions in energy use of 89% over a typical building.
Costing $25m, the building was designed by an international team comprising Hopkins Architects with Burns Wald-Hopkins Architects, ('architects of record', Tucson, Arizona, USA), and Arup, (London, San Francisco).
The three storey, 60,000 sqft ARD building, housing offices for several university and governmental agencies focused on the environment integrates many sustainable strategies including:
- Over 20% of electricity supplied by an offsite PV array;
- Building shape and orientation to the sun;
- Thermal mass from the concrete structure
- Low pressure air distribution;
- Triple glazing and automated building shading;
- Reclaimed water used for toilets and landscape irrigation
- Recycled materials used for 1/3 of the building;
- 92% of construction waste was diverted from landfill
- A detention basin designed to alleviate seasonal flooding