“A five million square foot research campus, a project team spread over twelve time zones, and a three-year schedule from concept to ribbon-cutting. These things raise the bar for project delivery”
David Odegard, PE, LEED®AP
AEI Managing Principal
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology A LEED® Platinum research university for Saudi Arabia’s post-oil economy. Environmental stewardship and sustainability are critical components of this new university's research agenda, campus planning, and operation. AEI's design solutions are informed by: whole building energy modeling; siting, massing, and organization modeling; shading analysis; orientation consideration to optimize outlets and inlets; and, systems analysis. Modularity schemes enable more efficient operations and maintenance in the harsh coastal desert climate.
The campus implements a 4,000 kW photovoltaic array, high-performance/high-efficiency MEP systems with air pre-treatment and heat recovery, a solar thermal hot water system, high-performance building skins, high-efficiency water features, water reclamation and on-site water treatment, projected to realize 78% reduction in water use and 25% reduction in energy use, relative to a LEED® 2.2 baseline. Home to four interdisciplinary, industry-collaborative research institutes, KAUST opened in 2009.
From the architect: AEI’s contributions to the KAUST project’s development began at the conceptual design phase of this new graduate-level, university campus. The scale (approximately 5 million square feet) and speed (completed by the fall of 2009) of the project offer complexity and challenge enough, but the goal of LEED® Platinum rating for each building on campus made this project even more difficult. AEI’s design of low energy building systems and energy analysis of each campus building have been extremely important to the project’s overall success.
Services: Mechanical, Electrical, Piping/Plumbing, Technology, Sustainability, Architectural Lighting Design,
Size: 5,000,000 sf
Location: Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
Architect: HOK
LEED® Status: LEED® Platinum
Awards: 2011 Laboratory of the Year Award R&D Magazine 2011 Sustain Award Building of the Year, International Prize, KAUST Library Sustain Magazine 2011 Architecture Award, KAUST Library AIA San Francisco 2011 Sustainability Award, KAUST Library AIA San Francisco 2011 Design Awards - Architecture Over 50,000 sf, KAUST Library AIA Houston 2011 Design Awards - Devine Detail, KAUST Library AIA Houston 2011 Honor Awards, "Serve" Merit Award, KAUST Library International Interior Design Society San Francisco 2011 Library Building Award, KAUST Library American Library Association 2010 Green Good Design Architecture Award Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and 2010 International Architecture Award Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and 2010 Top Ten Green Projects Award AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) 2010 Honor Award, Architecture Category, KAUST Library AIA St. Louis 2010 Top Ten LEED Projects, Number 1 Ranking Interiors & Sources 2010 International Sustainable Campus Award, Construction Category, KAUST Library International Sustainable Campus Network
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View Article - "Cooling Off An Arabian Night", GreenSource Magazine - July, 2010
