Georgia Tech Public Safety Facility
Project Overview
Location: Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Size: 30,000 sq. ft.
Architect: Houser Walker Architecture, Pond
Landscape Designer: Pond
MEP Engineers: Pond
Contractor: Ajax
Services: Sustainability Analysis
The Georgia Tech Public Safety Facility serves as the new headquarters for the Georgia Tech Police Department (GTPD), providing a modern space that consolidates operations and enhances security functions on campus. cove.tool’s consulting services assisted in the creation of this 30,000-square-foot facility which includes specialized areas for the Criminal Investigations Division, a K9 program, and the Office of Emergency Preparedness. With over 1,700 security cameras monitored from a centralized communications center, the facility supports Georgia Tech’s commitment to a safe, secure, and resilient campus environment.
Project Goals
The project team aimed to achieve the following objectives:
Centralization and Modernization: Replace and consolidate outdated facilities into a single, efficient location.
Sustainability and Energy Efficiency: Pursue green building standards, including ASHRAE 189.1, WELL Building certification, and the Georgia Peach Green Building rating.
Enhanced Occupant Comfort and Health: Integrate environmental design strategies that ensure occupant comfort while meeting strict energy performance goals.
Climate Analysis and Design Strategies
Understanding Atlanta’s hot, humid climate was essential for the project. cove.tool’s custom simulation framework for in-depth climate and energy provided early-stage insights that shaped key design decisions to meet the project’s performance and sustainability goals.
Climate-Specific Analysis: Using cove.tool’s climate analysis capabilities, the team examined local temperature, solar radiation, and humidity trends. cove.tool provided insights led to optimal HVAC and envelope strategies, ensuring energy efficiency while supporting occupant comfort year-round.
Temperature and Humidity Optimization: The climate conditions in Atlanta presented challenges in managing cooling loads and humidity. cove.tool’s predictive, data-driven and expert-verified insights enabled the team to develop dehumidification and thermal comfort strategies that aligned with WELL standards for indoor air quality and comfort.
Solar Radiation and Shading: By providing custom simulation framework for solar radiation patterns, cove.tool helped the team optimize shading elements and glazing orientation, reducing cooling demand and harnessing passive solar heating during winter. This analysis was crucial in designing for Atlanta’s mixed climate, where both cooling and heating are significant.
Benchmarking and Sustainability Goals
cove.tool enabled the team with energy benchmarking allowing the design team to map various building standards to the project’s goals:
Green Building Certifications: Through cove.tool’s predictive analysis and expert guidance, the team tracked progress toward ASHRAE 189.1, WELL Building Standards, and Georgia Peach Green compliance, ensuring that each component of the facility met stringent sustainability and health standards.
Performance Metrics: With cove.tool’s proprietary simulation engine, the project team could compare energy, carbon, and daylight benchmarks against ideal values. These reports enabled informed adjustments to building systems and materials, ensuring compliance without compromising on design or occupant comfort.
Design Exploration and Massing Studies
The design team utilized cove.tool to evaluate multiple massing schemes, balancing energy performance with operational requirements:
Massing Analysis for Energy Use Intensity (EUI): cove.tool’s comparative modeling allowed the team to explore and optimize three potential massing options. Each scheme was assessed for EUI, daylight penetration, and solar access.
Detailed Comparison: cove.tool’s side-by-side comparison tools allowed the team to view EUI, daylight levels, and solar gains simultaneously, enabling a holistic assessment.
Selected Design: High daylight penetration, combined with PV panels on the parking structure, achieved near net-zero energy targets, helping Georgia Tech meet its carbon reduction and energy efficiency goals.
Sustainability and Energy Optimization with cove.tool
By leveraging cove.tool’s powerful engine and seasoned experts, the project team could refine sustainable and energy-efficient solutions specific to Atlanta’s climate:
Energy Efficiency Modeling: Through iterative energy simulations, cove.tool identified optimal HVAC, lighting, and glazing strategies, minimizing operational energy use while meeting occupant comfort standards.
Embodied and Operational Carbon Reduction: cove.tool’s decarbonization analysis guided the choice of low-carbon materials and optimized operational carbon reduction strategies, allowing the facility to support Georgia Tech’s long-term sustainability goals.
Health and Wellness Integration: Using WELL Building-focused insights from cove.tool, the project team implemented solutions that enhanced indoor air quality, daylight access, and occupant well-being.
Results and Impact
The Georgia Tech Public Safety Facility stands as a benchmark for sustainable campus development, thanks to data-driven insights from cove.tool. By consolidating GTPD operations in a high-performance facility, Georgia Tech achieved an energy-efficient, sustainable, and resilient building aligned with the university’s goals.
Energy and Sustainability Compliance: Fully aligned with ASHRAE, WELL, and Georgia Peach Green standards.
Operational Excellence: Designed to support advanced security and emergency preparedness functions with optimized space utilization.
Long-Term Resilience: The data-driven design approach enabled by cove.tool positioned the facility as a model for future campus projects, demonstrating the benefits of sustainability, resilience, and occupant health.
cove.tool was instrumental in helping Georgia Tech achieve ambitious sustainability goals in their design by providing advanced climate and energy benchmarking and analysis to help the design team meet rigorous green building standards. Through intelligent insights and targeted recommendations, cove.tool empowered the team to make informed, impactful decisions at every stage of design, resulting in a sustainable, high-performance facility that serves as a model for future developments.
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