At 19 stories tall and spanning 345,000 square feet, Boston University's Duan Family Center for Computing & Data Sciences is one of the largest fossil-fuel-free, carbon-neutral buildings in Boston.
At the Elevate summit in Boston, Dennis Carlberg, chief sustainability officer at Boston University, will discuss the university’s Climate Action Plan and share how this LEED Platinum facility is setting new standards for sustainable operations with its use of geothermal ground source heat pumps, heat recovery wheels, active chilled beams, electric backup boilers and chillers, and much more.
The building's design minimizes energy consumption using energy-efficient strategies such as external sun shading devices, triple glazing on the windows, and dedicated outside air heat recovery systems. Heat recovery wheels transfer outgoing thermal energy to the incoming outdoor air without mixing the actual air. There are no gas lines connected to the buildings — even the dining services use electricity for all the cooking.
Sustainability is also a key component of building resilience. Carlberg also serves as the Associate Vice President for Climate Action at Boston University where he focuses on building the programs necessary for mitigating BU's impacts on climate change and preparing its campuses for climate change. Regarding the resilient design of the Duan Family Center specifically, the building is set three feet above the elevation of the Charles River dam, and five feet higher than the City of Boston’s suggested design guidelines for sea-level rise in an effort to combat rising water or sudden storm surges.
Elevate takes place Sept. 25 and 26 in Boston. Learn more and register here.
