Innovative and Sustainable Building to House World-Class Labs and Offices in Riverside
CONTACTS
Stanley Young
Office of Communications
stanley.young@arb.ca.gov
(916) 322-2990
SACRAMENTO- The
California Air Resources Board (CARB) announced today that it has selected the
design of its new Southern California headquarters. Located on a 19-acre site
near the campus of UC Riverside, the approximately 380,000-square-foot facility will be one of the largest and
most advanced vehicle emissions testing and research facilities in the world.
It will also be the largest ‘net-zero energy’ structure (producing as much
energy as it uses) of its type in the
nation.
“This striking design will make CARB’s new Southern California
headquarters an immediately recognizable landmark,” said CARB Chair Mary D.
Nichols. “It incorporates the highest standards of sustainability in the
office and public spaces, and meets the exacting laboratory specifications we
need to keep California at the forefront of our world-leading efforts to clean
up our air and fight climate change.”
The selection
culminates over a decade of planning to replace the Board’s aging Haagen-Smit
Laboratory in El Monte, California. Opened in 1971, the Haagen-Smit Lab was
home to many of CARB’s groundbreaking efforts to reduce the emissions of cars
and trucks, as well as efforts to introduce zero-emission and plug-in vehicles
to California. In 2015, engineers and technicians based at the Haagen-Smit
Laboratory were instrumental in discovering the infamous VW diesel “defeat
device”, leading to the largest emissions control violation settlement in national
and California history.
The new headquarters
building will be designed and built by the team of Hensel Phelps Construction |
ZGF Architects | Affiliated Engineers, Inc., which was selected in a process conducted by the Department of
General Services (DGS) with the assistance of CARB, Harley Ellis Devereaux
(HED), and Vanir Construction Management.
In September 2017, three pre-qualified
teams were provided with the Request for Proposal that contained extensive
performance criteria and design guidelines developed over a year-and-a-half
period by the Project Team (DGS, CARB, HED, and Vanir). The final selection was
based on which team best met CARB’s minimum requirements and provided the best
value to the State, while ensuring the design fulfilled aggressive
sustainability goals. The project is to be delivered for the “stipulated sum”
contract amount of $368 million dollars, of which $108 million is earmarked for
specialized testing and laboratory equipment.
The new headquarters and laboratory will
feature an extended range of dedicated test cells, especially for testing of
heavy-duty vehicles. There will also be workspace for accommodating new test
methods for future generations of vehicles, and space for developing enhanced
on-board diagnostics and portable emissions measurement systems. The facility
also includes a separate advanced chemistry laboratory. The Southern California
headquarters office and administration space is planned for about 460 employees
and includes visitor reception and education areas, a media center, flexible
conference and workshop space, and a 250-person public auditorium.
The building will be designed to be LEED
Platinum certified, the highest level awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council, and meet
California’s CalGreen Tier 2 threshold for
overall sustainability and energy efficiency of the building. Extensive on-site
use of solar PV panels will supply at least 3.5 megawatts of electricity while
water conservation features and water efficient landscaping will be used
throughout the site. Adjacent staff
parking will include at least 120 electric vehicle charging stations and public
parking will include electric vehicle charging stations and at least one DC
fast-charge station.
A
ceremonial groundbreaking took place in late October. After a design phase,
construction is expected to begin in the summer of 2018 and to be completed in
early 2021.
General information on the project is here
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