Campus Energy Initiatives | News

Harvard Tries Air Efficiency System in New Green Building

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 06/14/10

Harvard Law School is implementing a new air efficiency system in a building that's expected to receive LEED Gold Certification. The university has gone public with its use of Aircuity OptiNet to improve indoor air efficiency and decrease the maintenance and energy costs associated with a new 250,000 square foot structure that will hold classrooms, a student center, and a clinical wing.

The expectation is that the university will be able to reduce the carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the facility while still meeting energy efficiency standards.

The original building design had 101 CO₂ sensors built into the project. By using Aircuity's system of air sampling units, the university was able to reduce to four the number of sensors needed to sample the same number of locations.

The company said OptiNet continuously senses and analyzes a building's indoor environment and provides alerts to the building management systems, making adjustments to the ventilation flow as needed, thereby optimizing airflow. It added that the university anticipated a return on investment of 1.1 years.