NBCUniversal Campus Project

Making the most of the mild climate in Los Angeles, the NBCUniversal Campus provides a comfortable thermal and visual experience throughout the project’s two buildings and in the adjacent open space. Atelier Ten’s analysis was instrumental in the refinement of the climate-responsive design as well as the pursuit of LEED Platinum for both buildings.

Early in the design process, Atelier Ten led several sustainability workshops with the project and design teams to establish sustainability goals for the project.Atelier Ten’s thermal comfort analysis informed building massing and geometry. TTo improve energy efficiency as well as overall thermal comfort, varied temperature zones are incorporated throughout the two buildings and outdoor spaces.

Atelier Ten drove an embodied carbon reduction effort and worked closely with the
structural engineer and general contractor
to develop an approach that reduced the
embodied carbon footprint for One Universale by 22.7% and achieved 13.5% reduction for The Commons. We brought multiple parties together to address concerns and construction issues while adding no cost to the project. In addition, the high-performance cooling systems use ultra-low GWP, new-generation refrigerants which have 1000-2000x less global warming impact compared to traditional refrigerants.

Due to the growing increase of power shut offs in the region, quickly-deployable demand-response strategies reduce electric load when called upon by utility operators in times of grid stress. Strategies like slowing the air-conditioning fans, reducing light levels, turning off the heating system, and turning off air-conditioning in the non-critical and vacant areas help reduce energy while extending the comfortable use of the buildings.