UC Santa Cruz Cowell Student Health Center

The Cowell Student Heath Center Expansion and Renovation project kicked off in Spring of 2008, primarily funded by student referendum Measure 18 Student Health Center Facilities Fee and Measure 35 for improvements and greening of the Health Center.

The project, located in the middle of the campus, encompassed renovations and seismic reinforcements to three existing buildings and the addition of one new ground-up, 2-story, medical office building designed to house both urgent and primary care services. Features include rigorous erosion control standards, natural ventilation, aggressive water use reduction strategies, measurement and verification, certified wood, and low-emitting materials.

The new HVAC system design will provide 12,000 cfm with approximately 300 MBh heating input serving the Primary Care building with duct sound attenuation traps, vibration isolators, and 100% exhaust economizers. The air handling system was designed with variable air volume with pressure independent variable air volume boxes with hot water reheat coils serving the interior areas of the building. Hot water baseboard will provide heating to the perimeter office spaces. The air distribution system will consist of supply ductwork from the units via low pressure, medium velocity distribution to a series VAV boxes to obtain zoning throughout the space. The campus central energy management system will provide equipment start-stop control.

Owner
University of California, Santa Cruz

Location
Santa Cruz, CA

Architect
Hawley Peterson Snyder

Project Value
$15,900,000

Project Area
34,639 SF

Completion Date
2011

Services
Mechanical Engineering
Plumbing Engineering
Title 24 Energy Analysis
Fire Sprinkler Criteria
Fire Suppression Engineering
LEED Documentation

Awards
LEED for New Construction Gold Certification
2011 Award of Merit: Sustainable Design, Excellence in Structural Engineering
2011 Green Project of the Year, San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal