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Location
339 E. Chicago Map
Owner
Northwestern University
Architect
SmithGroup
Wieboldt Hall is one of three original buildings built in 1926 on Northwestern's downtown campus. This high-rise building is undergoing a 31,000 sf renovation to modernize mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems and provide new classroom spaces and a new entry lobby to the School of Continuing Studies. A major MEP upgrade in a building of this vintage is inherently challenging, but in addition, Northwestern has elected to seek LEED for Commercial Interiors certification for the 4th and 5th floors, which will be complete in the first phase of renovation.
A major systems upgrade often provides significant opportunity for energy and water savings in historic buildings. For example, this project will include low-flow plumbing fixtures. For new construction projects, this often seems hum-drum, but if existing toilets using 3 or 4 gallons per flush are replaced with 1 gallon per flush toilets, the impact on water consumption is significant.
Northwestern will also sub-meter energy usage and report it to the School of Continuing Studies. In campus situations, it's not unusual for departmental operations to have a significant impact on energy use, but the department has no idea what their actual impact is because utilities are simply provided by the university. So it's nice to see this feedback mechanism being introduced - it's more common in commercial buildings where owners want to push utility costs onto tenants.
Many interiors projects don't include any major mechanical upgrades (tenants just move around ductwork), so this is the rare project that can claim additional LEED credits for their mechanical upgrades. For example, the air-handling units include outside air delivery monitoring - constant direct measurement of the amount of "fresh" outside air being supplied by the unit for ventilation. (For LEED geeks: this strategy replaced the old requirement for CO2 monitoring in EQc1, which is really an energy savings strategy, not an indoor air quality strategy).
To introduce a little "green bling" in the project, Northwestern is also installing a small green roof that will be visible from higher levels in the building. The project also includes the typical mix of recycled content, low-voc, and regionally sourced materials. The first phase of construction is scheduled for completion in August 2007; other project team members include MEP engineer WMA, commissioning agent E Cube, and LEED consultant HJKessler Associates.
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