FSU and McKim & Creed Win Grand Award for Energy-Saving STEM Facility

Fayetteville State University (FSU) and McKim & Creed, Inc. have received a Grand Engineering Excellence Award for the school’s new 60,000-square-foot, $20-million Science and Technology Building. The state-of-the-art facility is designed to enhance FSU’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program, and features laboratories for chemistry, forensics, mathematics, physics and computer science; offices; classrooms/seminar rooms; common use areas; a café; a university-wide data hub/center; and the Center for Defense and Homeland Security (CDHS).

The award was presented by the American Council of Engineering Companies of North Carolina. The engineering excellence awards program is an annual competition that honors and recognizes engineering and surveying firms for projects that demonstrate the highest degree of achievement, value and ingenuity. The Grand Award is the highest honor in each project category; McKim & Creed and FSU won the accolade in the building/technology systems category.

McKim & Creed provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection services for the LEED® Silver-targeted Science and Technology Building, which showcases the university’s energy, climate and sustainability goals. The firm designed systems that reduce energy consumption by 30% below ASHRAE 90.1-2004 standards and that cut indoor water use by 20% and outdoor water consumption by 50% below NC Building Code requirements. A dashboard monitoring system is in place and is capable of providing real-time energy/water consumption information.

Energy-conserving mechanical and electrical elements include high-efficiency water-cooled centrifugal chillers with variable secondary flow system, high-efficiency condensing type boilers and water heaters, variable air volume lab controls system, energy recovery for exhaust/outside air streams, high-efficiency T-5 high output lighting with occupancy sensors, low-flow plumbing fixtures, high-performance glazing, and increased insulation values for the building envelope. McKim & Creed also performed a life cycle cost analysis, which provided energy-saving alternatives.

McKim & Creed was also responsible for relocating the university data hub/center into the Science and Technology Building. The data center incorporates SmartRow™ infrastructure with a single in-line IT rack that offers flexibility and efficiency and integrates the HVAC conditioning system as part of the rack system.

Earlier this year, the Science and Technology Building won a “NC Award of Merit for Project Implementation” from the NC State Building Commission and an “Excellence in Project Implementation” award from the State Construction Office.

FSU is the second-oldest public institution in North Carolina and is a member of the University of North Carolina system. The new Science and Technology Building provides FSU’s 6,000 students with a hub for academics, science and social/community interaction that enables the school to showcase its STEM initiatives in a state-of-the-art facility; that embodies the university’s climate, energy and sustainability initiatives; and that upholds the university’s primary mission to “provide students with the highest quality learning experiences that will produce global citizens and leaders as change agents for shaping the future of the State.”