NASA has built the federal government's most sustainable building, a task that is unsurprising for such an innovative outfit, and an article in Gizmodo outlines NASA's First Space Station on Earth, dubbed Sustainability Base, and its components:
NASA's had a number of requirements for its $20.6 million, Ames Research Center-based building: a healthy working environment, excellent air quality and natural light, low energy use, intelligent controls, a flexible building system, the integration of NASA's emerging technology, and the most challenging requirement of all—LEED Platinum status as a baseline for sustainability.
So AECOM and William McDonough + Partners got to work designing the two-story, two-wing building, which will consist of approximately 50,000 square feet of space and house 225 workers when it is complete. Using Autodesk software, the team was able to design a steel frame exoskeleton-equipped structure with high ceilings to ensure daylight, natural cross-ventilation, control systems that react to the environment (by automatically adjusting the building temperature), and more.
One of the biggest challenges for AECOM was figuring out how to use the building's ceiling as an energy source—one of NASA's requests. Whatever system was chosen had to work in a climate that could start out at 60 degrees in the morning, shoot up to 100 degrees in the afternoon, and then drop back down in the evening. The solution: radiant ceiling panels in office spaces, heating panels on side walls, and raised floors to offer easy access to utilities. In non-office spaces that won't always be occupied, AECOM chose radiant concrete floors and natural ventilation.
NASA-designed technology in the building includes the intelligent building controls, an inductive monitoring system that detects when something in the building isn't working, and a forward osmosis water recycling system originally designed for the International Space Station.
The building will use 90% less potable water than a similarly sized conventional building. NASA's Sustainability Base will also create 22% more energy than it concerns thanks to a combination of solar panels, a Bloom Box fuel cell device, and a geothermal system that will send naturally cooled ground water to interior ceiling panels.
I love this quote—"The idea was, what if we could imagine NASA's first space station on Earth?"—what a great way to summarize the aim of the project.
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