Kelly Cerri [Lighting/ Electrical]
MSU Grand Rapids Research Center
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Electrical Depth
The provided primary electrical service of the Grand Rapids Research Center is 7,200 volts and will be fed to a 15 kV medium switchgear lineup. From here, the power is stepped down to a building utilization voltage of 480/277 V which provides power to the double-ended secondary unit substation. This substation serves panelboards which distribute power to the lighting and major mechanical loads. Additional transformers are required to step down the voltage even farther for the panelboards serving the multiple receptacles throughout the building.
The electrical depth of this design includes a branch circuit redesign to support the new lighting designs, a short circuit analysis, and integrated lighting control system which will decrease energy usage during times when lighting is not needed.
Lighting Depth
A lighting redesign will be conducted for four separate spaces in the Grand Rapids Research Center and are as follows:
Main Entrance Outdoor Plaza
Lobby
Meeting Room
Research Lab & Write-Up Area
MSU’s Grand Rapids Research Center is located along the Grand Rapids Medical Mile, an area of the city surrounding Michigan Street which is home to numerous clinical, research, and educational institutions. In order to encapsulate all that the area has to offer while also referencing the Michigan State University Secchia Center, the building was designed to represent a building of the future and prelude the innovation happening inside. With this in mind, a parallel is drawn between the relationship of the spaces in the building and the progression of steps in the research process itself. As researchers enter the Research Center and make their way through, they are completing a journey through the building which mimics the steps they take when completing their research. For this reason the lighting redesign is intended to emulate this journey.
Structural Breadth
The implementation of an alternative sun shading system, which will be anchored to the south façade curtain wall system, will require additional analysis. Depending on the load of the new system, a new supportive structural design will need to be applied to ensure the safety and practicality of adding new shading devices to this portion of the building.
MAE Daylighting Breadth
The south exterior wall of the research lab and write-up area contains four windows which allow daylight to enter the space. To ensure that intense glare is prevented from entering the space during certain sun hours, the current design of the building integrates aluminum horizontal sun shades anchored to the curtain wall of the connecting façade. However, as glare is a critical issue in areas where computer use is present, implanting a further optimized shading system in this area could greatly benefit the users of the space compared to the current minimal shading system. The current size of the windows will also be analyzed to determine if more or less sunlight exposure from the exterior will be beneficial to the space. An analysis using programs such as Daysim and AGi32 will help determine an alternative sun shading system and optimally designed windows placed on the south façade which provide daylight into the research lab and write-up space to maximize daylight and minimize glare.
Construction Breadth
With a current construction schedule of around two years from groundbreaking to completion, a further study on the possibility of decreasing the total time of construction for the Research Center will be completed. This new schedule will consider implementing a short interval production schedule (SIPS) which is utilized to create a highly detailed schedule of a repetitive project task. In this case, the Grand Rapids Research Center has four almost identical floor layouts which creates the opportunity for a short interval project schedule to be beneficial. Implementing this new schedule will create a succinct and highly detailed process which could decrease total construction time. If this new schedule changes the overall process of construction an additional cost analysis will be completed to determine if the change in schedule results in an increase or savings in overall budget.