Chabot College Student Center Achieves LEED Platinum with the Help of SageGlass

Date: 22 May 2012

Chabot Community College in Hayward, Calif., recently achieved LEED® Platinum certification for their sustainably-designed student center building with the help of SageGlass® dynamic glazing.

The Community and Student Services Center (CSSC) is the centerpiece of the college’s “green intelligent building initiative,” serving more than 15,000 students, staff and faculty.

Architects at tBP/Architecture wanted to incorporate as much glass as possible into the CSSC to flood the interior with daylight and keep a connection to the outdoors for the well-being of the students. They designed a building with an atrium that included a two-story, 2,900-square-foot south and west facing curtain wall, which posed significant glare and heat control challenges from the sun.

The architects needed to find a way to maintain outside views and keep people comfortable inside, while simultaneously minimizing energy consumption to achieve the project’s LEED goals. Although conventional low-e glazing, automated interior blinds and automated exterior louvers would have managed the sun and solar heat gain, this approach would also have obstructed outside views and compromised building aesthetics.

The CSSC uses SageGlass as a strategic element of an integrated daylighting control system to manage sunlight and heat gain. The dynamic glazing tints or clears within minutes, significantly reducing energy consumed for air conditioning, heating and lighting.

SageGlass glazing keeps glare and temperature under control throughout the day, making effective use of the natural ventilation system.The electronically tintable SageGlass adjusts to the flow of air through the natural ventilation scoops on the roof and thermal heating/cooling of the radiant slab in the atrium. As air is brought into the building over the roof, the amount of heat transmitting through the glass works with the heating/cooling of the slab to generate an airflow pattern through the facility. Depending on the targeted comfort zone, air is heated or cooled via the thermal slab and then allowed to rise out of the building without the use of an air-ducted ventilation system.

Sightlines to the surrounding campus grounds also remain unobstructed, while natural light reaches the interior spaces and reduces the need for artificial lighting.

“Together with the other energy-efficient and sustainable components of the project, SageGlass was an important part in helping us earn LEED Platinum certification for the Chabot College Community and Student Services Center. SageGlass dynamic glazing was an excellent way for us to manage solar heat gain in the facility and to optimize energy efficiency,” said Phil Newsom, tBP architect and senior project manager.

In addition to SageGlass, the facility features a variety of other advanced sustainability technologies designed to achieve LEED Platinum accreditation through aggressive energy-efficiency levels and maximum occupant comfort. From an energy-efficiency standpoint, the CSSC achieved an energy reduction of 42 percent based on LEED Energy Atmosphere Credit 1 (EAc1) and a renewable energy production of 12.5 percent based on LEED EAc2.

“SageGlass was instrumental in helping Chabot meet its ambitious sustainability initiative, which includes attaining LEED Silver rating as a minimum for all new construction,” said Doug Horner, Project Manager with Chabot Community College. “This one-of-a-kind facility exceeds this standard by using advanced design elements, which provide natural daylight in all occupied spaces and access to outdoor views. The CSSC also controls the amount of light to reduce heat gain as a means of increasing the comfort level of occupants.”

About SAGE Electrochromics, Inc.

SAGE Electrochromics is the world’s leading manufacturer of electronically tintable glass that can be tinted or cleared to optimize daylight and improve the human experience in buildings. SageGlass controls the sunlight and heat that enter a building, significantly reducing energy consumption while improving people’s comfort and well-being. SageGlass can reduce a building’s cooling load by 20% and HVAC requirements up to 30%. It is also a smarter, more elegant solution than conventional sun controls such as mechanical window shades, blinds and louvers. The company was founded in 1989 and is headquartered near Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn., in the heart of “the Silicon Valley of the window industry.” SAGE is strategically partnered with the Saint-Gobain company of Paris, France, the global leader in glass and building products.