The Redevelopment of Lower Sproul Plaza, Berkeley 

The redevelopment of UC Berkeley’s Lower Sproul Plaza by Moore Ruble Yudell Architects and Syska Hennessy Group encompasses 184,000 sf of new construction, additions and renovations to the Esheleman and MLK buildings in the heart of the campus. The design of the building architecture and MEP systems were developed using an integrative design process that produces harmony between systems and architecture to create healthy, comfortable, and productive work spaces for the students.

This presentation will take a stroll through the iterative building performance modeling consisting of energy simulation, solar shading and daylight modeling, and flow network modeling and computational fluid dynamics of natural ventilation that were used to “engineer the architecture” through optimizing building envelope components and the resulting MEP systems that support the primarily passive strategies implemented in this legacy project.

Ultimately the MEP system components and distribution systems achieved the University’s key priorities, which included: sustainable and highly energy-efficient; adaptable, with capacity for future modification or expansion; durable system performance over service life; and maintainable and easy to service.

Presenter: Robert Bolin, PE, LEED Fellow, ASHRAE HBDP
Senior Principal, Syska Hennesy Group, San Francisco, CA 

Rob is a Senior Principal with Syska Hennessy Group’s San Francisco Office and National Director of High Performance Building Solutions, with more than 25 years of sustainable consulting engineering experience. His expertise in sustainable architecture and green buildings includes building designs for passive, low energy systems such as natural and mixed-mode ventilation, displacement ventilation, radiant heating and cooling, and building integrated renewable energy systems.

Some of Rob’s notable high performance projects include The Los Angeles Federal Courthouse (targeting LEED Platinum), Lawrence Public Library (LEED Gold), Lawrence, KS, Pearl River Tower in Guangzhou, China; EPA Region 8 Headquarters Building, Denver, CO (LEED Gold); Santa Monica Library, CA (LEED Gold), and NRDC Santa Monica HQ Office (LEED Platinum).

Rob, who has an MSAE degree from Penn State University and a BSAE from University of Colorado, is a licensed professional engineer in numerous states.  Additionally, he is a certified ASHRAE High Performance Building Design Professional. Rob is active in ASHRAE, AEE, AIA Cote, USGBC, is a former founding member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles Chapter of the USGBC, a National Peer of the GSA Design Excellence program, and recently elected LEED Fellow.