University of Houston at Sugar Land Brazos Academic Building
Sugar Land, Texas
The new 145,000-square-foot academic building at the University of Houston System at Sugar Land (UHSSL) campus is being shared by both UHSSL and Wharton County Junior College (WCJC). The facility houses 44 classrooms, including five computer labs, as well as nine science labs, faculty offices, an exercise facility and bookstore. A School of Nursing suite will also be shared by both institutions. The new building features a two-level, 150-seat auditorium and large multi-purpose room and will provide classroom seating for 2,500 students.
In addition to meeting the educational needs of this growing population, housing both UHSSL and the junior college on the same campus will help each institution devote more of its funds to educational activities rather than to infrastructure. Both institutions will reduce duplication of services by sharing certain administrative expenses, technology resources, labs, classrooms and student service functions.
The building is an ideal candidate for energy recovery where the heat and moisture of the outdoor air is transferred to the exhaust air by a total energy wheel. The wheel is a honeycomb of aluminum sheets covered with a desiccant that is 80% efficient at heat transfer. The wheel reduces the outdoor air cooling load by 182 tons, or 36% of the load if energy recovery were not used. The wheel transfers heat and moisture from the exhaust air to the outdoor air when the ambient temperature is below 70 degrees F. The wheel eliminates the heating outdoor air load and minimizes static discharges due to low humidity in the winter.
The additional cost of the energy recovery units compared to conventional equipment is offset by the reduced cost of the chiller plant due to the reduced cooling capacity. The outdoor air heating system was eliminated because of the use of energy recovery wheels. UHSSL will realize thousands of dollars of annual energy saving at no additional capital cost thanks to the energy recovery wheels.
Awards: Houston ABC Excellence in Construction. Award of Merit.