Atlanta
Emory University's $82.7-million Whitehead Biomedical Research Building has earned a Silver certification according to the LEED building rating system as established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by the Atlanta office of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum (HOK), the 325,000-sf, eight-story building opened in November 2001 and is the first building in the Southeast U.S. to achieve LEED certification, and one of only 24 LEED-certified facilities in the nation. Emory University's Board of Trustees recently endorsed LEED for use as a guiding principle in the development of all the university's construction and renovation projects.
The Whitehead building incorporates the following "green" design elements:
- 90% of the building's lab and office spaces are positioned on the edges, with windows to the outside. Each lab module has its own controls for lighting, HVAC and piping.
- The energy recovery system includes four enthalpy wheels, each 20 feet in diameter, in the mechanical penthouse. The wheels use air exhausted from the facility to preheat outside air in the winter and to precool outside air in the summer.
- A stormwater harvesting system captures water from the roof and outdoor plaza and moves it to a large retention vault beneath the plaza. The water is then filtered and reused for on-site irrigation.
- Air-conditioning condensate is piped from air handling units and chilled water coils back into nearby cooling towers for use as makeup water. This system conserves water and diverts an estimated 2.5-million gallons of water a year from the county's sanitary sewer system.
- The building's environmentally preferable building materials are low-VOC emitting, have a high recycled content and are from renewable local sources.
