New ASU science and tech building features innovative sustainability elements

Arizona State University’s Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 7, completed in December 2021, was constructed with numerous innovative sustainability elements.
 
The building team worked to support ASU’s carbon neutrality by 2035 goal. It took a holistic approach to sustainability and carbon neutrality on all decisions, according to GC McCarthy Building Companies. The result is a building with an Energy Use Intensity (EUI) that is roughly 50% below baseline.

The $192 million, 281,000 sf, high-performance research facility fosters an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge generation and leading-edge research, including the sustainable use of food, water, and energy. Labs include spaces for biological sciences, engineering, life sciences, and sustainability, as well as dry lab space for computing, cyber-security, engineering design and fabrication, and robotics.

Notable sustainability features include:

• 42-foot architectural columns elevate the building entrance, creating significant shade areas and positioning the building to capture wind for natural ventilation.
• Radiant cooling system combines chilled beams, chilled ceilings, and chilled sails, providing comfort for occupants and supporting low-flow ventilation.
• Water efficiency strategies include: Use of Arizona’s Salt River Project non-potable canal water on the site’s landscape; water-saving drip irrigation and “smart” irrigation controls; hardscape designed so all rainfall conveys to planting areas; and the capture of mechanical system condensate water to irrigate plants.
• A 40% fly ash concrete mix that met structural integrity measures and provides a consistent aesthetic finish.
• First building in Arizona to use BubbleDeck, a void form structural deck system that uses a patented integration technique linking air, steel, and concrete in a two-way structural slab, resulting in less concrete and a lighter structure and foundation system.
• Inspired by self-shading pleats of the Sonoran cactus, the exterior skin takes shape in large GFRC rainscreen panels over a prefabricated building envelope. Skin sensors installed around the exterior track heat transfer throughout building’s lifecycle.

The structure now serves as the gateway to the Arizona State University Tempe campus and faces one of the busiest intersections in the Metro Phoenix area. The building will house Global Futures, the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability, the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability Solutions Service, School of Sustainability, and the Institute of Human Origins, in addition to public outreach and exhibit space. The building will also include classrooms and a conference center with a 389-seat presentation hall.
 
Owner and/or developer: Arizona State University
Design architect: Architekton l Grimshaw
Architect of record: Architekton l Grimshaw
MEP engineer: BuroHappold Engineering
Structural engineer: BuroHappold Engineering
General contractor/construction manager: McCarthy Building Companies
Sustainability Consultants: Thornton Tomasetti