Project Overview

The Grimes Engineering Center at UC Berkeley is a new, philanthropy-funded facility designed to enhance student experience within the College of Engineering. Replacing and expanding upon the existing Bechtel Engineering Center, the building adds 35,500 square feet across two new floors and is dedicated entirely to student use. It provides space for academic advising, career services, tutoring, entrepreneurship, and social activities, fostering collaboration, inclusion, and innovation.

Our Role

A2 Efficiency led the energy code compliance for the building, assisting engineers at Harris Design Studio, meeting Title 24 2022 performance path for the building envelope, mechanical, lighting and plumbing systems. A 3d model of the building renovation and expansion was built based on the architectural design in CBECC 2022.

Project Highlights

The project included an air-to-water pump serving the air handling unit for cooling and zone-by-zone heating coils in variable air volume boxes for heating. The team utilized the recently added heat pump object to CBECC 2022 allowing the project to exceed the energy code with an all-electric HVAC design.

Publication Link

https://capitalstrategies.berkeley.edu/engineering-center#