Student Work

This project involved a new 5-story (around 500 bed) student housing building on the California State University Long Beach (CSULB) campus which has net-zero energy usage. For this project, students worked directly with Glumac – an MEP firm specializing in cost effective sustainable building design – to influence building massing and orientation and select an effective HVAC system for the space. This building will include many different types of rooms including common areas for many different functions such as kitchens, recreation, and study spaces. The building will mainly be comprised of single, double, and triple occupancy rooms with centralized restrooms on each floor. Each space presents a different design challenge and will factor into our final decision of a system. One of the main goals of this project is to achieve the net zero classification for the building and LEED Platinum Equivalence.

The Anderson Hotel is a 5-story historic hotel in downtown San Luis Obispo on the corner of Monterey and Morro. This building is set to be modernized and converted to a mixed-use low-income housing building while maintaining the historic architectural elements. The first floor will have retail tenants and the upper 4 floors will be used as low-income apartments. The building is currently fed by a steam boiler system that heats the building via in room radiators. There is no ventilation or cooling in the building.

The intent of this project is to provide the client, The Housing Authority of San Luis Obispo, with multiple HVAC designs, budgets, and Life Cycle Cost Analyses. The client will be able to choose an HVAC system based on efficiency, cost, and comfort. The deliverables for the project will be a narrative describing each option and suggesting a single option, the HVAC system designs, and the LCCAs.