The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California headquarters has been completed in Riverside, Calif. The 403,306-sf is the largest vehicle emissions testing facility in the world and the largest net-zero facility of its kind.
The CARB headquarters exceeds California Title 24 requirements by 30% and lowers energy cost savings by 75%. All of the energy needed is produced onsite, making it resilient to power outages and protecting it from pausing its research operations.
CARB consolidated five existing locations across Southern California into CARB’s headquarters which improves performance and efficiency of operations while also providing a healthy workplace for the organization’s employees. The design team’s focus was not just reaching high-performance targets, but creating a quality environment for CARB’s employees.
The features of the headquarters include a complex program with myriad space types, including a main entrance and lobby, an employee entrance and lounge, a large auditorium, open office, conference room, light-and-heavy-duty vehicular emissions testing wings, specialized chemistry and hydrogen laboratories, and employee amenity spaces such as an expensive breakroom and a gym. The facility is sited on 19 acres to encourage biking, walking, public transit, and use of zero emissions vehicles to reduce transportation impacts.
The facility effectively connects users to the outdoors. The layout and form of the building establishes two principle outdoor spaces: the main courtyard to the east and a more private courtyard to the west. The building is oriented around the courtyards to lend itself to easy circulation, views, daylighting, and self-shading. Coupled with an abundance of low B VOC-emission trees and plantings, comfortable outdoor respite spaces are established for employee enjoyment.
The massing of the office building is consolidated into three stories that extend in three directions parallel to light duty testing, chemistry labs, and toward the conference buildings. This creates a smaller building footprint and shortens horizontal circulation networks, while using vertical connectivity established by a network of bridges and stairs to increase proximity between offices, testing areas, support spaces, and laboratories, resulting in increased flexibility, optimized adjacencies, and greater opportunities for intellectual collisions among employees. A variety of types and scales of meeting spaces, as well as coffee bars and cafés promote interaction and collaboration, especially for staff who circulate between the various departments throughout the day.
The ground floor of the open office atrium features testing control desks where employees conduct and operate the air regulation testing that occurs in the test cells. These inset spaces throughout the office building first floor are open and allow all users to see the AC dynamometers, among other testing equipment, in action.
Beyond putting CARB vehicular testing on display, the energy reduction strategies in the office building also largely contribute to the facility’s net-zero energy status. The integration of chilled beams allowed the atrium ceiling to be kept high, making way for the collection of skylights—a passive lighting strategy—that create expansive views of the naturally lit workspace. Paired with task lighting and daylighting harvesting, the office wing, which accounts for 41% of the total program, uses only 15% of the total energy needed to operate the building.
![CARB interior](/sites/default/files/inline-images/P.%20Carb_051.jpg)
Energy reduction strategies include:
- Fluid cooler - Using hybrid coolers in conjunction with an elevated 570°F chilled water temperature reduced estimated energy consumption of the facility by approximately 8%.
- Aircuity and demand control ventilation - Continuous indoor air monitoring maximizes ventilation efficiency and energy reduction.
- Adiabatic humidification - Air is humidified without using steam or an additional heat source, reducing energy consumption.
- Active chilled beams - The hydronic air cooling system uses less air, reducing energy requirements and overall operating costs.
- Daylighting - Skylights increase interior daylighting. Motorized interior shades reduce glare.
- Lighting - Site lighting: high efficiency LED site in parking. Interior lighting: interiors incorporate all LED lighting, task-ambient lighting, daylight harvesting control, dual lighting / HVAC occupancy sensors.
- Electrical vehicle charging - 118 EV charging stalls provided on site with the ability to expand to a total of 149 EV parking stalls.
- Fume hood occupancy-based control - Occupancy-based sensors integrated into the chemistry lab fume hoods reduce energy demands.
- Exterior louvers - Exterior louvers integrated into the southeast and west facades reduce solar heating and glare.
- High-performance glazing - Low-e insulated glazing with exterior louvers increase operational energy efficiency.
The facility was completed in August 2021. ZGF worked with Hensel Phelps and Affiliated Engineers on the project.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2014
Air Terminal Sector Giants: Morphing TSA procedures shape terminal design [2014 Giants 300 Report]
The recent evolution of airport terminals has been prompted largely by different patterns of passenger behavior in a post-9/11 world, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 8, 2014
Government Sector Giants: Public-sector construction slow, but stirring [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Improving energy performance of existing properties through targeted upgrades and large-scale reconstruction continues to be a federal priority, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 6, 2014
25 projects win awards for design-build excellence
The 2014 Design-Build Project/Team Awards showcase design-build best practices and celebrate the achievements of owners and design-build teams in nine categories across the spectrum of horizontal and vertical construction.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HDR, and HOK top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
LEO A DALY hires Peter Yakowicz to oversee VA projects
New hire will work with healthcare and federal market sectors on programs specifically for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
| Jul 24, 2014
Glazing options in correctional and detention facilities
Like it or not, the number of incarcerated people in the U.S. continues to rise. With that, increased security in all aspects of these facilities continues to be a priority. This is where security glazing products that allow line of sight for supervisors to observe and still maintain secure separation can play a key role. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Jul 23, 2014
Architecture Billings Index up nearly a point in June
AIA reported the June ABI score was 53.5, up from a mark of 52.6 in May.