Case studies

Northern Arizona University ARD Facility,
Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

"The whole building was really intended to function as a sustainable project with systems. One of the precepts was UFAD right from the start. As with any project, our team struggled with budgets and looked at areas that could be cut or eliminated, but UFAD was not to be value engineered, it was never on that list."

Located prominently at the entrance of Northern Arizona University (NAU), stands the school's flagship building for campus sustainability - the Applied Research and Development (ARD) facility. This spectacular LEED®-NC Platinum rated building draws together various research groups in a single structure where they can easily collaborate.

Sustainability was the principal driver for the ARD project which largely includes office, research and laboratory space. For that reason, the LEED® Assessment process impacted each and every aspect of the design, with strictest attention being paid to engineering design. To meet aggressive energy targets and to attain points for building energy performance, NAU's world-class project team included things like displacement and low-pressure ventilation systems.

Members of the project team understood from the beginning that one of the best ways to meet its low energy targets for ventilation was through the implementation of raised access floors with underfloor air distribution (UFAD). With that, the first and second floors of ARD were supplied with ventilation air via Tate Access Floor's Building Technology Platform®.

The use of the raised floors was further extended to electrical and tele-data distribution. This lent itself to a sustainable approach as well, in that it would not be necessary to tear down existing structures when the need to reconfigure spaces arises. As a result of this type of sustainable systems design, along with a solar photovoltaic power system, and a heat exchanger to regulate the building's temperature, ARD enjoys a 60% reduction in energy needs.