The Charles David Keeling Apartments, a student housing community located in UC San Diego designed by Kieran Timberlake has been honoured with LEED Platinum certification.
The housing community has been named after popular American scientist Charles David Keeling and has been designed to address the issues of carbon emissions, water shortage and management of storm water.
The community building maintains natural cooling through ocean breeze instead of mechanical cooling. Various techniques such as computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing were used to determine the ability of the shape and arrangement of the building to capture flowing winds. This was used to determine the size of the windows and units to enhance living comfort for occupants. Heating efficiency is achieved by thermal mass, a unique rain screen and an air barrier exterior wall that reduces infiltration of water vapour and loss of heat. Occupancy controlled lighting has been fixed throughout the building. Daylight lighting has been used throughout the building. On-site renewable energy is generated through a photovoltaic array on the rooftop.
To manage shortage of water, the building has an on-site wastewater recycling system. Efficient landscaping and plumbing has been implemented, a pilot UC system has been installed. Flow of storm water into the Pacific Ocean is controlled through a landscape of bioswales and retention basins that reduce the amount of water flow and delay the flow of water. This in turn controls flooding in the area and prevents corrosion of delicate coastal scrub arroyos which are endangered. The housing community can provide accommodation for 516 students and provides benefits in terms of long term maintenance and replacement and involves significant cost.
Source: http://www.kierantimberlake.com