Bill and Melinda Gates Hall at Cornell University required a suitably thoughtful HVAC selection and design process. After considerable analysis (CFD and otherwise), the team arrived at an unusual strategy led by chilled beams (both active and passive) and DOAS, with key dehumidification elements to keep spaces comfortable.
Designing the Bill and Melinda Gates Hall — home to the Computing and Information Sciences Department at Cornell University — meant insuring the proper airflow, dehumidification, and energy recovery for its computer laboratories, offices, conference rooms, and collaboration spaces that bring 500 undergraduate students, 350 graduate students, and 60 faculty members together.