The Kelley Engineering Center, located on the Oregon Sate University campus, was awarded LEED Gold certification, by the U.S. Green Building Council.  The Center is the first new LEED Gold academic engineering building in the country.

The 153,000 square-foot structure houses the rapidly growing School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, providing labs, classrooms and offices for more than 150 faculty members and 300 graduate students.    

Implementation of the natural ventilation and purge modes proved to be some of the most interesting energy conservation measures in the project.

The perimeter offices have operable windows that are controlled by the tenant during the day and monitored by the Alerton control system.  Each office has an occupancy sensor that provides valuable information to control the local underfloor supply air damper and hot water heat.  For example, when the Alerton system detects a tenant in the room and the window is open, the supply air is reduced and the hot water valve is closed.  This is the natural ventilation mode.  If the tenant leaves the office and the window is left open, the space enters the deadband mode where the supply air damper and hot water valve is closed.  When the building enters the unoccupied mode the perimeter office windows are commanded closed by the Alerton system. 

During the unoccupied mode when the atrium temperature rises above a setpoint and the outside air temperature is below a setpoint, the building will enter the night purge mode.  When this mode is initiated, the perimeter office windows and atrium dampers are opened. This expels the warm air in the faculty offices and graduate research assistant offices by the natural stack effect of allowing hot air to escape through the high exhaust louvers in the atrium, and bring cool air inside the building through the office windows. 

Under floor air-conditioning allows more flexibility, reduced energy use, and individual control over flow and temperature.  Wider acceptable ranges of yearly in-door temperatures minimize heating and cooling demands.  The ventilation system also uses higher fresh air rates and has carbon dioxide and humidity control.

Kelley Engineering Center features sustainable green design components and energy efficient building systems, while providing a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing environment, attracting students and professors from around the country.