The ASHRAE Illinois Chapter has awarded the San Bernardino Justice Center its 2014 Excellence in Engineering Award. The honor recognizes projects that achieve optimal performance due to exemplary MEP systems design. Each of the 16 winning projects will advance to the ASHRAE Regional Technology Awards, the next tier of the prestigious honors program.
At 361,700 square feet, the Justice Center is the largest of California’s new courts. It improves the operations of the San Bernardino justice system by consolidating functions that previously had been spread across 12 different buildings. The facility was designed to outperform California’s stringent Title 24 energy codes. Its suite of cutting-edge integrated MEP systems includes efficient variable air volume systems, high-efficiency chillers and pumps, efficient fans, smoke control purging, uninterruptible power supply backup for communication and security systems, a digital lighting control system, efficient plumbing fixtures, and bioswales for the treatment of rainwater runoff.
Due to these systems, the building achieves an impressive energy cost savings of 23 percent. It is registered with the Green Building Certification Institute and the California Savings by Design Energy Efficiency Program, and it is on track to earn a LEED® Gold rating.
About Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) is one of the leading architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world, with a 75-year reputation for design excellence and a portfolio that includes some of the most important architectural accomplishments of the 20th and 21st centuries. Since its inception, SOM has been a leader in the research and development of specialized technologies, new processes and innovative ideas, many of which have had a palpable and lasting impact on the design profession and the physical environment. The firm’s longstanding leadership in design and building technology has been honored with more than 1,700 awards for quality, innovation, and management. The American Institute of Architects has recognized SOM twice with its highest honor, the Architecture Firm Award — in 1962 and again in 1996. The firm maintains offices in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Abu Dhabi.