New Academic & Laboratory Building

IMEG provided engineering design services for Phase 2 of Western Illinois University’s Riverfront Campus.

The three-building development houses the College of Arts & Sciences, Education and Human Services, and Fine Arts and Communication. Phase 2 also includes 22 classrooms, several laboratories, administrative offices, two-story library, computer lab, the Graduate Study Center, the US Bank Writing Center, testing center, academic advising and student services.

The buildings are served by a 423-ton geothermal bore field located underneath the parking lot and includes variable air volume AHUs with energy recovery. A multi-stack VME II chiller/heater is comprised of modules that can simultaneously produce chilled water and heating water based on building demand. Some of the modules also are served by the emergency generator. This allowed WIU to have chilled water available for the data center without having to size the generator for the entire chiller load of all three buildings. The data center is served by a 450 kW emergency generator with a clean agent fire protection system, redundant CRAC units with shared air delivery ducting, and an uninterruptible power supply.

In addition to geothermal heating/cooling, sustainable features include energy recovery, discharge air reset, daylighting, occupancy sensors, dimming controls, low-flow plumbing fixtures and a green roof.

The project is pursuing LEED Silver.