In addition to its unique design of tall, leaning forms that shelter a central courtyard, the Stata Center is the first major academic project at MIT to utilize a convection-enhanced ventilation system. Raised floor construction allows utilities such as air, power, and data connections to be delivered under-floor.

“Under-floor air systems use raised-access floors to serve as plenums for distributing cooled air throughout buildings,” says Robert Cunkelman, senior engineer at MIT. “The potential benefits of under-floor air distribution include improved thermal comfort, improved indoor air quality, reduced energy use, and improved flexibility for office moves.”

When deciding to go with 400,000 sf of raised floor construction, utilizing convection-enhanced ventilation, the designers of the Stata Center visited several sites around the country with similar examples. Those sites in Pittsburgh, Pa., Trenton, N.J., and Portland Ore., all included pros and cons that were sorted through, and in the end, the best combination of elements was used in the MIT facility. Research was also conducted on other technologies such as active and passive chilled beams and radiant heat. In the end, a combination of under-floor air for cooling and fin-tube radiation for heating was selected for the office spaces.

Due to of the scope of the project and the level of investment, the economics were tested and found that this type of raised floor system was economically advantageous because floor return and supply air duct work is not required. In fact, very little sheet metal is required under the floor to distribute the air from the shaft. While none of these totally offset the costs of raised floor systems, the resulting clean ceiling with merely lights and sprinklers, devoid of the usual duct-work clutter, resulted in an aesthetically pleasing design. The raised floor panels are constructed of pressed steel and filled with gypcrete, and the assembly is topped with carpet.

The under-floor system allows floor diffusers to be moved, with variable air-volume dampers controlled by local thermostat controls; power and data systems are essentially plug-and-play. This flexibility allows researchers to reconfigure their own spaces with relative ease.

--LB