Stanford University
Environmental and Engineering
Palo Alto, California

A 165,000 square foot, three-story plus basement structure, the new home of the Stanford Environmental Initiative will be the cornerstone of a four-structure development for Stanford’s School of Engineering. The facility will house a mix of wet and dry laboratories to study environmental issues, and the basement will house services common to all four buildings. While a decision has not yet been made on official LEED certification, project managers are incorporating green design and structural elements that will qualify the building as a LEED Platinum equivalent, or better. These elements span nearly all green categories.

Energy

• Extensive natural ventilation.
• Cost-efficient energy systems for laboratory functions.
• “Night flush” cooling that uses automatically opened windows to take advantage of cooler night temperatures in warm months.

Lighting

• Four large skylight cube atriums to distribute natural light throughout the complex, down to the basement level.

Water

• Surplus water from the Stanford co-generation facility is captured and used to flush toilets.
• Rainwater is collected from roof downspouts, collected in a cistern system, and stored in a lake for landscape use in summer months.