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The sustainability design goals of the design
The sustainably design goals of ECU’s main campus student center were to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, conserve energy, be healthier for building occupants, reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and lower operating costs.

A design overview statement
Natural lighting was a main driver in the design of ECU’s main campus student union. The building features a hybrid of traditional Carolina style architecture with a contemporary design. The structure incorporates long horizontal lines with mostly glass facades facing south and east. The center’s base structure is comprised of brick components, which transition to glass and steel as elevation increases. Both the interior and exterior will feature concrete supporting members that will contrast the otherwise mostly glass and brick design. As an added benefit to the school, the design also features ECU’s first parking deck. With over 700 parking spaces, the parking garage was incorporated into the overall design and cost of the union.

The economics associated with the pursuit of the design
The student center was designed within a budget that was aimed at providing the funding for the original design charrette. With a total cost of around $122 million, the center features an environmentally conscious design with locally sourced brick, concrete and other materials.

The design process
The design of ECU’s student center was heavily influenced by the desires of ECU’s students. Designed by Perkins + Will architecture firm, the 209,000 SF center was envisioned to bring a sense of community to the ECU campus. With a series of presentations, the chief architects of the project were repeatedly sent back to the drawing board to arrive at a design solution that would better serve the student body by incorporating more study room, more private spaces and have an overall more inviting exterior form.

The characterization of the sustainable site
The main-campus student center will be located right at the heart of campus making it both walking and biking distance from all locations on campus. ECU’s main campus has pedestrian focused paths of travel in place that discourage vehicular travel as most buildings are within walking distance of each other. As an added benefit, ECU has just incorporated a bike sharing program called “Lime-Bike” that allows ECU students to unlock special bikes with an app on their phones as of 2018. Water efficiency The student center utilizes low flow fixtures that reduce water consumption by 27%. A chilled water plant will utilize multi-compressor magnetic bearing compressors, which will increase the efficiency of producing chilled water, which reduces water consumption.

Energy and atmosphere
The new union will feature energy-efficient lighting systems that provide work friendly wattage equivalents to standard bulbs using LED’s. The lighting options will be comfortable to occupants with sensors that will adjust or eliminate lighting in areas that are not in use. The center’s LED’s will utilize 0.5% of one watt of electricity compared to standard incandescent options. These alternate lighting sources will reduce the building’s overall carbon footprint, making the center more “green” and better for the atmosphere. As an added benefit, the building’s HVAC and plumbing systems have also been optimized for energy efficiency.

Materials and resources
The materials & Resources chosen for the student center considered the full “cradle to grave” life cycle of each material. From the raw material acquisition to the manufacturing processes utilized, every material has been chosen based on its ability to reduce waste and pollution. This building will utilize recyclable enhanced roof and wall insulation materials that reduce cooling/heating loads during respective seasons.

Indoor environmental quality
The student center, with its nearly all-glass facades will provide high quality interior daylighting in spaces facing east and south with controlled electrochromic glazing. As an added benefit, the structure features large overhanging rooflines that minimize sunlight infiltration during summer months, but do not hinder sunlight penetration during winter months. Its indoor air will be provided by HVAC systems that utilize 100% outdoor air and will provide a healthier environment for students and faculty. 100% DOAS de-coupled cooling and heating systems will provide dehumidified ventilation air to the building. Active chilled beams will provide sensible cooling for office and conference spaces.

Benefits of the design
The ECU student union utilizes a smart design that provides a better-quality indoor environment for its occupants using clean-air HVAC systems and naturally lit spaces. The energy efficient strategies applied to this project will reduce energy costs to the University. The union’s demand control ventilation systems will reduce ventilation in unoccupied spaces and sensor controlled LED’s will reduce energy demands. Approximately $260,000 in energy costs will be saved when compared to an ASHREA 90.1 Appendix G baseline building.