ASU Tempe Campus Block 12

With the ever growing need for educational space and Arizona State Universitys (ASU) commitment to Sustainable Design, ASU teamed up with the City of Tempe, AZ, when deciding the direction for their new building designated as Block 12. Block 12 will house the Del E. Webb School of Construction, 200-seat auditorium, bookstore, eateries and a Grab-and-Go Market. The 130,000-square-foot, mixed-use project expands the Tempe campus beyond University Drive and includes enhancements to the surrounding areas.

To accomplish sustainable development as well as garner LEED silver designation or above, the design team worked to incorporate the following concepts in their project: ventilated façade for reducing exterior surface temperatures, integrated photovoltaic/solar-thermal technologies, natural ventilation of atrium areas, solar hot water heating, LED lighting, and water harvesting for storage and reuse. In an effort to study the effectiveness of their sustainable design, ASU has installed sensors throughout the building and will enable them to monitor and chart actual real-time data to measure temperature and light on its skin and in the rooms. ASU also chose the Duplex System when selecting the finish on their exoskeleton steel trusses (exposed).

By understanding the importance of having the design consultant, the architect and the galvanizer work together in the development stages, this made the entire process work seamlessly. The duplex process of galvanizing the steel and then painting it provides added protection known as the synergistic effect, this dramatically increases the time to first maintenance. Both paint and galvanizing, when used independently, provide different degrees of corrosion protection. When used together, they have increased the corrosion protection for 1.5 to 2.3 times the sum of the expected life of each system on their own. With everyone working together, they were able to provide an aesthetically pleasing high-quality learning facility as well as doing their part in minimizing the impact on the environment, for present and future generations. Whats also notable is that hot-dip galvanizing contributes two credits to an overall LEED score in the key areas of Materials & Resources Credit 4: Recycled Content. Specifically, 1 credit is earned under paragraph 4.1 for use of recycled content above 10 percent of the value of the hot-dip galvanized material in the project, and 1 credit is earned in paragraph 4.2 for 20 percent of the value being recycled content.

This is significant for a project that is focused on sustainability. Its also worth noting that ASU seems to have realized the importance and advantages of hot-dip galvanizing. This isnt the first project in which the campus has incorporated the process. At the universitys Scottsdale, AZ, campus, hot-dip galvanized steel was used in parking garages both because of its aesthetics and to protect the automobiles from ultraviolet rays as well as other elements in Arizona. This universitys continued use of hot-dip galvanizing is important to point out because it could spark more interest in this process, especially at a state-funded university.

Details

Year Galvanized

2014

Award Class

Newly Complete

Award Sectors

Building & Architecture

Duplex Systems

Environment

Suburban

Location

Tampe, AZ United States

Reasons for Galvanizing

Aesthetics, Coating Durability, Corrosion Performance, Ease of Specifying, Life-Cycle Cost, Prior HDG Experience, Quality of HDG, Sustainability, Turnaround Time