Penn State
CEBME Building
University Park, PA
Daniel Hirt
Structural Option
Building Statistics
Building Name
Building Use
Square Footage
Stories
Height
Cost
Project Delivery Method
Owner
Construction Manager
Civil Engineer
Landscape Architect
Structural Engineer
Mechanical Engineers
Lighting Design Consultants
Cost Estimate Consultants
Vibration and Acoustic Consultants Construction Duration
PSU Chemical and Biomedical Building
Research and Student use
160,000
7 Stories
130
150 million
Design-Bid-Build
Pennsylvania State University
8/29/16 to 01/01/19
Architecture
Because it is a new facility on campus under Penn States environmentally conscious new guidlines the architecture and layout of the building was designed to be largely efficient on space, energy, and materials. In the structural system alone over thirty sample bays were made for the steel framing in order to find the most efficient use of resources. The architecture of the building has been designed to reflect the brick and stone architecture that is prevalent across Penn State's Campus. The architectural design of the building also utilizes the use of a complete curtain glass facade in order to impart a more modern feel to the building while still respecting the campus architecture.
Building Enclosure
The curtain glass system that covers the facade of the building faces towards Shortlidge Rd. The curtain glass itself is hung and covers the cantilevered portion of the buidling. The rest of the building enclosure is a brick and stone corbel fusion. The stone corbel itself being very heavy and requring special supports and kickers in order to support it. All perimeter beams were designed with minimal deflection in order to preserve the integrity of the facade without any damage from deflection. The roofing system is proprietary and has a high insulative value.
Sustainability
The building's mechanical system uses a high efficiency system in order to conserve energy usage. The building also uses LED fixtures in all locations. Overall the building has met a LEED Gold standard.
Construction
The building's bid type as stated above is design-bid-build. The design of the building incorporated heavy use of BIM and coordination amongst the varying disiplines. This was done in order to smooth over the flow of information between disciplines and make a coordinated building model that was free of clashes. All designers model were updated regularly and tested for clash detection. This will allow for a smooth construction process without any hitches caused from lack of coordiantion among designers.
Electrical/Lighting
The PSU CEBME building's heavy use of BIM allowed for the ability to optimize electrical runs throughout the building. This allows for a more energy efficient layout which will minimize energy losses due to run distances. As stated above the lighting thoughout the biilding was designed using all LED fixtures. In addition lighting conultants were hired onto the projects in order to provide consultation on optimal lighting for the lab spaces. Research will be done in these labs an light fixture spacing and proper color temperature are needed in order to provide a non-distracting environment.
Mechanical
The PSU CEBME Building contains labs on floors 2-5 and as such needs to meet laboratory air quality guidelines. Air into and out of these environements is filtered for contaminants that may be harmful to experiments or harmful to human life. These labs are also designed to meet stringent vibration criteria in order to be non-disruptive to high power microscopes. As such all of the mechanical equipment has its own level on the 6th floor with access mezzanines to service the equipment easily.
Structural
The PSU CEBME Building has a composite deck, 2" deck with 4" lightweight concrete topping. The floor system itself is a mix of composite and non-composite. The composite areas being at the office and classroom spaces while the non-composite is at the designated lab areas. In order to meet the vibration criteria for sensitive equipment the lab areas needed to have heavier steel sections. In this area the capacity of the beam is two times heavier than is needed in order to be stiff enough to adequately diffuse vibrations. The foundation system of the building uses micropiles in order to tap into the bedrock below. The columns contain too much axial load in order to distribute load efficiently without the capacity of bedrock.
Fire Protection
The PSU CEBME Building uses a sprinkler system throughout the buidling in order to douse fires. The floor system itself uses 4" of Lightweight Concrete topping which provides a two hour rating without adding any other fireproofing to the structure itself.
Transportation
The PSU CEBME Building has three emergency fire stairwells and three elevators.
Telecommunications
The PSU CEBME Building has standard phone lines for the offices.