Performing arts buildings have long posed a challenge to sustainable design practice, and the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, N.Y., is no exception. In addition to achieving outstanding energy efficiency and excellent air quality, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) wanted to create superior acoustic settings for both traditional performing arts and experimental media.

Sustainability factors into every aspect of EMPAC’s design, and the result is an extremely efficient building — 17 percent more efficient than ASHRAE code. In order to meet these goals, the engineering team created individualized engineering systems and introduced high-performance technologies that are not typically used for the performing arts.

Although most comparable projects only have one main performing arts space, the 221,200-square-foot, state-of-the-art building, which opened last October, contains four different performance venues for experimental art and media performance and research. Each of the venues — a concert hall, a 400-seat studio theater, two flexible black box studio spaces, and an atrium — required complete acoustic isolation from one another.

The building’s largest component is the three-story atrium, which wraps around the concert hall. The sleek design features a dramatic glazed façade that is clean, uncluttered and transparent, but the engineers had to solve the challenges of condensation and heat loss caused by the curtain wall. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), Buro Happold analyzed the effect that different systems would have on the space and the glass, ultimately opting to introduce a self-balancing heated mullion system. This innovative, energy-efficient system carries hot water throughout the façade without compromising the structural system — all the while uniformly heating the atrium.

World-class acoustics standards set the benchmark for the MEP systems in the primary performance venues: the 1,200-seat concert hall and 400-seat black box theater. Both were engineered to the RC15 acoustic standard, an extremely high rating. To achieve this standard while creating an environment of optimal comfort for patrons and performers, the engineers implemented an advanced, virtually noise-free displacement HVAC system in both spaces. In addition to providing great sound quality, the system typically achieves approximately 15 to 20 percent greater efficiency versus the standard ventilation version. It also results in increased air quality because fresh air is coming from the bottom up, rather than being pushed from the top down through stale air.

An advanced Building Management System controls all the building’s HVAC equipment and uses individual temperature and carbon dioxide sensors, allowing each space’s occupants to monitor use. Specific areas in both the concert hall and the theater (the stage, auditorium or balconies) may be isolated and their MEP systems turned off when they are vacant, allowing for a high level of individualized control and efficient operation. Sensors in the hall regulate the amounts of humidity, carbon dioxide and air temperature to maintain superior performance conditions while achieving excellent energy efficiency.

Other key sustainability features of the building include a stormwater detention tank and a white roof that reflects heat back to the atmosphere rather than absorbs it. The plumbing system operates at a 30 percent reduction compared with traditional systems, and the construction waste was 75 percent recycled. The building’s site was also planned for sustainability: Its steep slope is managed by erosion control, and the landscaping features native tree and grass plantings, access to shuttle and public buses, bike racks, a vehicle charging station for electric cars and carpool spaces in the garage.

In the end, the building team overcame the challenge of meeting two competing objectives: The need to create optimal acoustics and the client’s desire to incorporate highly efficient systems. Despite these obstacles, the design team is aiming to achieve LEED Silver certification and hopefully raised the bar by showing how great sound performance is not incompatible with outstanding energy efficiency.

Sidebar: Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)

LEED Status: Targeting LEED Silver

Client: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Location: Troy, N.Y.

Description: The building incorporates a wide variety of venues, including a 1,200-seat Concert Hall, a 400-seat theater, four artist- in-residence studios; audiovisual production and postproduction suites; audience amenities; and student and support facilities.

Notable Feature: All venues throughout the building are wired to the production and postproduction suites, which can receive sounds and images from every part of the building and can transmit sounds and images in turn.

Building Size: 221,200 gross square feet

Construction Budget: Roughly $200 million including construction, technology and furnishings

Completion Date: October 2008 (Groundbreaking September 2003)


Team

Leadership: Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D., President, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Johannes Goebel, Director, EMPAC

Design Architect: Grimshaw

Architect of Record: Davis Brody Bond Aedas

Structural Engineer, Mechanical Engineer, Plumbing Engineer, Sustainability Consultant, and Simulation Analysis Consultant: Buro Happold

Electrical Engineer: Buro Happold and Laszlo Bodak Engineering

LEED Consultant: Buro Happold and Turner Construction Company

Acoustician: Kirkegaard Associates

Audio and Video Systems: Kirkegaard Associates

Theatre Consultant: Fisher Dachs Associates

Quantity Surveyor: Donnell Consultants Inc.

Construction Manager: Turner Construction Company

Landscape Architect: The Saratoga Associates

Civil Engineer: Clough, Harbour & Associates LLP

Architectural Lighting: Office for Visual Interaction

Fire Engineering: Arup Fire

IT Consultant: Shen, Milsom & Wilke


Materials

Glass: Curtain wall glass – Insulated with Low-E coating on surface by Okalux

Curtain wall: Steel curtain wall by Josef Gartner USA

Acoustic ceilings: Ultima Tegular by Armstrong, Eclipse ClimaPlus by USG, Optima Open Plan by Armstrong, Illusions by Ceilings Plus

Skylight: Vector Foiltec – Texlon Foil System

Interior paint: Pittsburgh Paints – Speedhide, Pitt-Glaze WB, Megaseal WBPC and Megaseal WB series

Interior wood floor sealers: Basic StreetShoe XL and StreetShoe Gloss

Flooring (exceeds CRI Green Label Indoor Quality Test Program): Static Smart Carpet Tile by Julie Industries, Au Courant Carpet by Bentley Prince Street, Marmotte Sheet Vinyl by Armstrong Industries

Electric car charging station: eTec Minit Charger – EVI DS-100, Level 2 Charging Station


Materials that are high in post-industrial and/or post-consumer recycled content include:

Structural steel; Steel grating systems; Steel components for stairs, catwalks, loading-dock equipment, etc.; Rebar; Wire mesh; KAMCO Thermafiber Mineral Wool; Mortar; GWB (Gold Bond GWB – National Gypsum Company); Shaftliner; Light gauge metal framing; Ceilings


EMPAC operates efficiently due to the design and analysis undertaken by Buro Happold, in addition to the careful selection of a variety of systems such as:

Johnson Controls: Building Management System

Trox: Floor swirl diffusers

Huntair: Air handling units