South Dakota Public Universities

Science Classroom Building| Sioux Falls, SD

The South Dakota Public Universities and Research Center, located in Sioux Falls, is a joint effort of the state’s universities. With enrollment rapidly growing, the South Dakota Public Universities and Research Center, also known as University Center, quickly found themselves in need of additional space. The new Science and Technology Classroom Building addresses these needs with 50,000 square feet of additional office, classroom and laboratory spaces.

The HVAC system consists of three air handling systems. One serves the office areas, the second serves the classrooms and the third the laboratory area. The air handling units for the offices and classrooms incorporate a total energy recovery wheel. These wheels conserve energy by capturing the heat from the exhaust air stream and utilize it to preheat the incoming fresh air. The laboratory air handling unit is a 100% outside air unit. This unit is matched with a laboratory exhaust fan to provide fresh air into the laboratory spaces. No air within the laboratory spaces is recirculated back into the building.

Electrical systems design included medium voltage power distribution, emergency power distribution, low voltage power distribution, lighting, communication, and data distribution, fire alarm system and security system distribution. The building lighting is controlled by individual occupancy sensors for energy savings. The lighting system and lighting controls assist in achieving a more energy efficient building and additional points for LEED certification. The design included cabling for a security system that utilizes a card reader system to allow and record access into faculty only areas of the building