IMEG’s design of Iowa State University’s LEED Gold renovation of Marston Hall has received a 2022 1st Place ASHRAE Technology Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement in the design and operation of energy efficient buildings. 

The national, society-level award (Education/Existing Facilities category) was accepted on behalf of ISU and the project team by IMEG Client Executive Lincoln Pearce on Jan. 29 during the ASHRAE Winter Conference in Las Vegas. 

“The most interesting and challenging aspects of the Marston Hall project were fitting modern systems into an over 100-year-old building and successfully implementing a chilled beam system in the building, which was fitted with operable windows and located in a humid climate,” said Pearce, who also served as project executive for IMEG’s team. “The new system design took advantage of distribution paths and concepts that had been integral to the original building design, allowing us to maintain the building’s character while still significantly improving performance.”

The extensive renovation, led by Substance Architecture of Des Moines, IA, created a 21st century learning environment within the 19th century structure. An improved building envelope combined with IMEG’s innovative, high performance mechanical design decreased building energy use intensity (EUI) by 50% despite increased use after the renovation. Currently the university is saving $37,000 per year in annual energy costs. 

Read the project case study.