Cape Cod Community College Takes Top Buildings and Projects Award

As part of its Sustainable Laboratory Awards Program, I2SL recognizes buildings and projects that showcase sustainable design, energy-efficient operations, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. The Buildings and Projects category focuses on criteria such as decarbonization, energy efficiency, renewable energy, water efficiency, resiliency, continuous improvement, and more. This year, one project stood out for its whole-building approach to energy efficiency and sustainability, earning the overall Lab Buildings and Projects Award in New Construction: Cape Cod Community College’s Frank & Maureen Wilkens Science & Engineering Center.

The Wilkens Science & Engineering Center opened in September 2022 in Barnstable, Massachusetts. Supported by Vanderweil Engineers and Payette Associates, the 38,500-square-foot building houses Cape Cod Community College’s Engineering Department and facilitates much of the college’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning. The Wilkens Center achieved LEED® Gold and is an all-electric, net-positive energy facility with wet and dry lab spaces, as well as communal space for collaboration. Thoughtful building design demonstrates these sustainable building features and mechanical systems to students through a unique, visible hybrid steel and low embodied carbon cross-laminated timber roof slab structure.

While the New England climate can pose occupant comfort challenges and raise energy use intensity (EUI), the Wilkens design and engineering team found innovative ways to reduce energy requirements in research spaces and decrease the overall EUI. To reduce energy use from fume hoods and the need for makeup air, 75 percent of the fume hoods in the chemistry teaching lab are ductless units that transfer air through specialized filters and release it safely back into the room. Labs also include occupancy and carbon dioxide sensors and intuitive, wall-mounted controls that shift between classroom mode and lab mode, minimizing air changes and ventilation needs when researchers are not working in the lab.

The facility is one of the first buildings on Cape Cod’s campus to include air conditioning; however, the center’s 10-foot cantilevered roof overhangs provide passive shading of interior spaces to reduce thermal cooling loads. The building features rooftop 225-kilowatt photovoltaics, which have helped the building achieve its net-zero status. The roof also houses a six-pipe, air-source heat pump that produces chilled water and heating hot water and includes an energy recovery function for free heating during simultaneous heating and cooling loads—this helps reduce fossil fuel consumption by 95 percent!

With cross-laminated timber slabs, low-carbon concrete, a wood-clad façade, and native plantings in the landscape, the Wilkens Science & Engineering Center’s design demonstrates sustainability inside and out. These building materials enabled the facility to reduce embodied carbon by 800 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The center even features an innovative toilet with a closed-loop electrolysis system that produces fertilizer and recycles water for flushing, nearly eliminating the need for potable water in that restroom. With these efficient and sustainable elements, the Frank & Maureen Wilkens Science & Engineering Center achieved a net-positive energy use of -5.2 kBTU/SF and a 105 percent energy reduction compared to a 2030 baseline.

Read more about the Sustainable Laboratory Award Buildings and Projects category winners on I2SL’s website.