David Brower Center/Oxford Plaza

Location

Berkeley, California

Owner

City of Berkeley

Project Dates

2006 -2007

Services Provided

Project Management

Cost Estimating

Scheduling

Preconstruction Management

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

David Brower Center/Oxford Plaza houses 96 apartments, public education space, a restaurant, underground parking, and 50,000 square feet of office and educational space for environmental non-profits. A dramatic public rotunda provides daylight and natural ventilation for various commercial uses. Green from the ground up, the Brower Center will set specific targets and benchmarks for environmental efficiency through all phases of construction and operation. As a result, the building is LEED Platinum, the first building of its kind in Berkeley. The Brower Center’s design features include construction using 53 percent recycled materials, photovoltaic panels which will double as a sun shade device, 100 percent daylighting of all office areas, collection and reuse of rainwater for irrigation and toilet flushing, and extremely low energy mechanical systems using radiant heating and cooling within the building’s concrete structural slabs. The Center also features solar shading devices on all south-facing windows, high-efficiency lighting with automatic controls to limit use when adequate daylight is available, concrete with slag to significantly reduce CO2 and cement content, and to increase strength, vertically post-tensioned structure to minimize potential damage due to earthquakes, operable windows and low-pressure ventilation via the raised floor system to maximize indoor air quality, Co2 sensors that call for extra fresh air if required, and exterior and interior materials to provide healthy air quality, maximize recycled content, avoid off-gassing, and minimize environmental impacts from production and transportation.