July 5, 2021
While it may be under construction, the new USDA Lubbock Cotton Classification Complex, located on the Texas Tech University campus, is set to be the "flagship" of energy conservation when it comes to U.S. cotton classing offices, according to the Engineer of Record Scott Fanning.
"Dollar per square foot per year, in terms of energy costs, this will be the flagship of the entire fleet of classing offices," Fanning said, who has designed most of the USDA cotton classifications facilities in the U.S.
Darryl Earnest, USDA AMS Cotton & Tobacco deputy administrator, who is overseeing the project, said when you compare this facility to others built in the past, the energy efficiency on this complex has been "stepped up."
In this video, Fanning discusses three systems being installed that will help USDA attain its conservation goals:
Variable refrigerant volume system
Free cooling cycle
Heat recovery system
"That's one thing we were going for, we wanted to take advantage of as much energy conservation as we could from not only lighting but to the materials that we're using in the building, to Scott's point, all the equipment working in sync," Earnest said. "This is going to be a very energy-efficient, air-tight, building and one that we will use as a model for any renovations or new ones we do in the future."
Learn more about why the complex is referred to a Yeti cooler from the lead architect Ryan Wilkins, Parkhill:
Watch this video to learn more about the energy conservation component of this project.
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