EPICenter | BNIM

Montana State University

Location	101 Montana Hall Bozeman , MT United States 45° 40' 2.9748" N, 111° 2' 57.4476" W See map: Google Maps Montana US
Size	31,500 SF
Completion Date	2001
Project Type

Main Content

Description

From its onset, the goals of this green building research for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) project sought to define and make possible a new vision for the future of architecture—to change the way buildings are designed, built, operated and maintained. The project encompassed seven years and produced innovative, "Plus Ultra" (Latin for "more, beyond") work by a host of collaborators including architects and engineers, industry partners, scientists and the national laboratories—who came together to design the most energy efficient and environmentally friendly building of its type on the planet. The results it achieved were unique: Advancement of the sciences of sustainability and interoperability; Development and demonstration of four "green building technology" prototypes; Design of an integrated, holistic "Living Building" system; Development of new materials and selection methodologies; and Specification of a unique commissioning procedure designed to measure the environment that the systems deliver and provide continuous building feedback.

Central to the research and development project was a separate, traditional building project to design a new laboratory building for a state university in a cold weather climate. The R&D project was tailored to the building project—a pilot building to test the newly developed technologies and methodologies. In the end, the four prototypes that the R&D project produced included two advanced fume hoods (one developed by industry and one developed by a national laboratory), an air scrubber to clean fume hood exhaust air before its release into the environment (developed by a Wyoming firm) and a hybrid integrated PV to harvest sunlight for both electricity and hot water.

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Quotes

"BNIM has exceeded every expectation we had for the performance of our architectural consultants. Our goal was to create an innovative building that sets new standards for energy efficiency and environmental design and the results are superb. BNIM has consistently fostered an inclusive, comprehensive design approach in project definition, research, concept generation, synthesis proposal and critique, and ultimately communication. We have been very pleased with their dedication to not only “the project” but to the people and the place they are serving." - J.B. Bancroft, AIA, Dean, College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University “BNIM Architects has exceeded every expectation we had for the performance of our architectural consultants ... From the beginning BNIM has provided a perspective that enlarged our vision and enlivened the scope of our project. Our shared goal moved beyond the construction of a “green building” to restoring the site, and contributing to the vitality of the economy and environment of our unique bioregion while setting new environmental standards for design, construction and operations of the built environment." - J.B. Bancroft, AIA, Dean, College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University "BNIM’s ability to assemble and focus such a diverse team and their interest in maximizing the educational potential of the project is remarkable. BNIM has consistently fostered an inclusive, comprehensive design approach in project definition, research, concept generation, synthesis proposal and critique, and ultimately communication. We have been very pleased with their dedication to not only “the project” but to people and the place they are serving." - J.B. Bancroft, AIA, Dean, College of Arts and Architecture, Montana State University

Awards

https://www.bnim.com/sites/default/files/project_pdfs/epicenter_0.pdf