DGS, UC Hastings, Cotchett Law Center

The Cotchett Law Center is a new $55M academic building designed to LEED Platinum standards for UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. It is the first of four new buildings planned for the campus over the next decade and will make UC Hastings one of the most physically sophisticated urban law schools—serving as a model for urban universities across the country. The 57,500 SF building was designed to be state-of-the-art, highly-efficient, and environmentally sustainable. It includes more than 15 legal clinics and features smart classrooms, shared community spaces, conference rooms, and rooftop community event space.

3QC was retained to provide LEED Enhanced Commissioning Services for this design-build project, which needed to comply with the stringent requirements of Title 24, the City of San Francisco, and LEED Platinum certification. To support these goals, 3QC commissioned the MEP systems, photovoltaic system, landscaping irrigation and rain water capture systems, and building management systems. UC Hasting’s environmental stewardship goal is carbon-neutrality, therefore, energy efficiency was a high priority. This priority drove flexibility and ingenuity on the project team. One of these priorities was moving from natural gas to all electric power systems. 3QC participated in early criteria development sessions to confirm that project systems accomplished this goal.

Several challenges presented themselves during the commissioning of the project, such as blocked ductwork that impacted the air flow TAB (testing and balancing), disabled power monitoring, faulty building pressurization, and a floor numbering system that had been renumbered to meet the needs of the City of San Francisco. 3QC field staff provided leadership and technical expertise to help address and solve each of these challenges. Working with the contractor, 3QC helped the contractor identify clogged filters in the ductwork where there was construction debris so it could be eliminated and achieve the proper air flow rating. The building pressurization problem was associated with an upper walkway connecting this building to a neighboring one. Every time the doors opened, building pressure was lost, so 3QC recommended installing pressure sensors at the intersection of the two buildings so a more accurate reading could be obtained and balance restored through the building automation system. 3QC also provided leadership to the entire team by coordinating the contractor and subcontractors to efficiently complete functional testing of the system.

Through the expertise provided by 3QC, the College’s project requirements and performance criteria were met and an integrated building management system was successfully commissioned for the UC Hastings operations team.

Photo credit: Bruce Damonte Photography