By Ritchie Lafaille, Office Fellow
Harvard Law School’s 2016 renovation of Pound Hall’s second floor has received LEED Gold certification from
“The renovation to this space has drastically improved not only the aesthetics but also the efficiency and comfort of the second floor,” says the Center on the Legal Profession’s Program Coordinator Nathan Cleveland. “Working in an environment with ample natural light and high quality ventilation makes a difference in both the productivity and mood of the office.”
The intent behind the approximately 9,900 square foot renovation was to design office and classroom space for the Law School’s Executive Education Program and Center on the Legal Profession, and improve the comfort and efficiency of pre-renovation program space.
Connecting back to recent Harvard-led research on the linkage between indoor office environments, CO2 levels, and cognitive function, a priority for the project team was to create a healthy indoor space, using an energy-efficient ventilation strategy. Demand control ventilation uses monitors to accurately measure CO2 levels, and regulates the amount of outside air provided to spaces based on those levels. This goes above and beyond code requirements, while helping to reduce unnecessary heating and cooling of incoming air when not required.
Additionally, the selection of low chemical-emitting construction and finish materials was an important driving force in the design phase.
The project team also focused on automating the lighting, heating, and cooling in conference rooms and classrooms in order to maximize energy savings. With 98 percent of the lighting load tied to occupancy sensors, the project is expected to use 32 percent less lighting power.
Read the full case study at http://www.energyandfacilities.harvard.edu/green-building-resource/leed-case-studies/pound-hall-2nd-floor
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