UC San Diego North Torrey Pines Living & Learning Neighborhood

UC San Diego is a longtime leader in climate change research and education, dating from Dr. Charles Keeling’s groundbreaking work linking rising levels of atmospheric carbon to fossil fuel emissions. Building on this legacy, the university aims to be carbon neutral by 2025.

This landmark construction project, the largest in the university’s 57-year history, includes three residence halls, two academic buildings, eight general assignment classrooms, administration offices, underground parking, and public amenities.

Expanding its facilities within the context of a statewide housing crisis, increasingly extreme heat, and rising sea levels, UC San Diego chose to prioritize sustainability and well-being. Today, the North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood (NTPLLN) is the largest higher education project in California to achieve LEED Platinum certification.

In approaching the design for NTPLLN, the architects began with a question: Can design improve the health of both people and planet?

The architects employed evidence-based design to encourage healthy habits and cultivate social connections among students, staff, and members of the La Jolla community. Upon completion, members of a research coalition that includes architects, administrators, faculty, students, and engineers measured the health and environmental outcomes of the design. As their research shows, the design realized measurable outcomes.

Bringing human scale to the massive site was a primary design challenge. The architects began with the idea of nested scales to address this while also designing to foster social interactions. To minimize energy use and maximize the benefits of the Pacific coast site, the design connects indoor and outdoor spaces in myriad ways.

The architecture features rooftop gardens for residence halls and access to outdoor educational spaces for classrooms. Community members can enroll in classes at the Craft Center, attend events at the public auditorium, and enjoy dining establishments and newly established green spaces.

All buildings are designed for passive survivability with natural ventilation systems and operable windows. The team used future weather files and shoebox modeling to determine each residence’s exposure to calibrate the enclosure’s design and ensure its intended energy performance.

Native plantings on the site—previously a parking lot—attract songbirds and insects that have reinhabited the landscape. To encourage healthy eating habits and allow students to connect through food, the design features edible gardens and shared indoor and outdoor kitchens.

Data from the first year of occupancy show that NTPLLN has reduced its measured EUI by a whopping 81% while realizing an 8.2% reduction in students’ self-reported depression rates. This reduction occurred at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting mental health crisis. These metrics, along with many others, exemplify AIA’s Framework for Design Excellence and showcase the design’s meaningful impact.

Today, the Neighborhood is home to future generations of environmental stewards who will fight to protect their university’s legacy, its neighborhood, and our planet. 

Understanding that the college years are formative for building healthy habits, the architects employed evidence-based design strategies to create a campus that cultivates social, mental, and physical well-being for students. When students graduate, they carry these healthy lifestyles into the greater community.

The North Torrey Pines Living and Learning Neighborhood is fully accessible, is pedestrian and bicycle friendly, and links to the city with public bus and trolley access. The design promotes alternative transportation with multimodal pathways and convenient bike parking and storage.

The project’s urban plan and architecture reflect the university’s belief that student and community interactions are important to holistic development. In addition to affordable shopping and dining options, uniquely SoCal experiences include classes on surfboard shaping at the campus Craft Center, which is open to all.

In a region where rental costs are typically double the U.S. median, NTPLLN offers its students 2,048 beds at below-market rates. The design creates an equitable and affordable on-campus living experience that includes individual and shared bedrooms in suites and apartments. All student housing is organized around indoor and outdoor common areas that foster social interactions, collaboration, and restorative connections to nature.

Design intent

Who does the project serve? Identify the stakeholders who are directly or indirectly impacted by the project.

NTPLLN primarily serves UC San Diego’s diverse student body, which is comprised of approximately 29% Asian, 20% white, 19% Hispanic/Latino, and more than 20% international students. Other stakeholders and users include students’ families, campus visitors, and faculty and staff. More broadly, NTPLLN is a part of La Jolla, the city that UC San Diego calls home, so local residents and visitors can also benefit from the dining and shopping options, the Craft Center, and events held in the public auditorium.

Describe the stakeholder engagement process over the course of the project.

University staff and administrators engaged with students, faculty, and local residents to create a detailed project program to enumerate the qualitative and quantitative composition of the neighborhood. Architects and researchers further engaged these groups through visioning sessions and surveys to incorporate their needs and priorities in the design. A UC San Diego team of engineers, safety officials, and staff participated in design reviews. A research coalition that included student fellows evaluated, documented, and publicly shared outcomes on the Center for Advanced Design Research and Evaluation’s website.

Identify project goals that support equitable communities and describe how those goals were developed.

Facing rapidly increasing enrollment rates amid a statewide housing shortage, UC San Diego was grappling with student housing insecurity. To increase availability of affordable residences so any student who wishes to live on campus can do so, the university invested in a new living-learning neighborhood. With more affordable housing for students on campus, NTPLLN also alleviates the affordable housing pressure in La Jolla and the greater San Diego region.

Describe the project team's explorations or design strategies that respond to the above-stated goals.

Supporting holistic student development was a key design driver, so the architects designed spaces to connect the university with the broader La Jolla community. Amenities and common areas were designed to mitigate loneliness and stress and encourage all who use the campus to be good stewards of their city and the environment. The architects designed equitable shared spaces throughout the campus’ residential, academic, and mixed-use environments. Situated around a flexible main street, public amenities include a market, affordable dining establishments, the Craft Center, and an expansive network of inviting outdoor green spaces, all of which serve the broader La Jolla community.

Describe stories or evidence that demonstrate how the project successfully contributes toward more equitable communities.

NTPLLN is the site of vibrant gatherings where area residents, students, and staff can conveniently carry out many daily activities, as evidenced by local press. In qualitative interviews, students said that the campus and its buildings serve their living, social, and academic needs well and exceed their expectations for a collegiate environment. Pre-move and post-move occupancy evaluations revealed that students experience increased satisfaction with the facilities as well as reduced rates of self-reported depression, indicating that the environment delivers on being an engaging, wellness-oriented live-learn community.

Every community is unique, and every project has unique opportunities to respond to issues of equity and inclusion. Describe any exemplary practices or outcomes for this project.

UC San Diego engaged community stakeholders to understand who would use the site and the potential societal impacts of NTPLLN and its construction. When the design-build team joined the project, it validating those initial assessments and conducted accountability checks via surveys and interviews. University staff, the design team, and researchers conducted surveys, visioning sessions, and behavior mapping exercises to understand how the project’s design could reflect the diverse cultures and habits of students and area residents. Students said it was key that their culture of innovation and creativity be included in the design in a way that respected tradition while embodying future ideals of sustainability and technological innovation. Community members said they wanted a new version of an old treasure, the school’s popular public Craft Center, which closed in 2012 and was reimagined on the new campus. Each building at NTPLLN provides enriching experiences for individuals of all abilities with indoor and outdoor elevators in public areas and accessible balconies and roof gardens. Public, gender-inclusive restrooms exist on every residential level. The Neighborhood is also serving as a pilot for new services for those with various practical, physical, and emotional support needs, including a concierge located on NTPLLN’s main street that offers 24-hour access to information and support services for students.

NTPLLN features an extensive network of green spaces with native and regional plants appropriate for La Jolla’s distinct microclimates, which encompass coastal, valley, mountain, and desert characteristics. The neighborhood’s accessible roof terraces are immersive landscapes with trees and shrubs that offer biophilic benefits and sensory connections to the surrounding Southern California coastline. The landscaped roofs reduce rainwater runoff that would be harmful to a thriving ecosystem and are designed to cool the buildings and the air around them through evapotranspiration, exemplifying a mutually beneficial relationship between the built and natural environments. A triple bottom line analysis of the low-albedo roofing and green roofs project a present value of $414,800, which accounts for potential heat island effect impacts on community health. Landscape strategies are anticipated to sequester 14,203 tons of CO2e through vegetation over 30 years. The project minimizes light trespass, reduces sky-glow, and improves nighttime visibility for better human and animal well-being. Exterior shading elements, such as overhangs and trellises, improve exterior thermal comfort and encourage the campus community to take advantage of the many inviting outdoor spaces.

Design intent

How does the design minimize negative impacts on animals?

NTPLLN has provided new habitats for coastal birds that nest on cliffs at the edge of campus and pollinating insects. NTPLLN is classified as an LZ2 low-exterior lighting zone and abides by California Environmental Quality Act and California Energy Code regulations addressing light pollution and glare impacts. To minimize light trespass from the building and site, NTPLLN features strategically placed lighting fixtures that improve nighttime visibility for bird safety and reduce lighting on nocturnal environments.

How does the project support biodiversity and improve ecosystem services?

NTPLLN restores vegetation to a large portion of UC San Diego, increasing the ecological and environmental health of the site. The landscape architecture balances native and other regionally appropriate plants to ensure year-round habitats for songbirds and insects that can now be seen and heard across the site. Plants on all levels, from roof gardens to the ground plane, were carefully chosen to create a harmonious, biodiverse, and healthy ecosystem.

Metrics

22% of site area was vegetated (landscape or green roof) pre-development.

40.5% of the site area is vegetated (landscape or green roof) post-development.  

There was an 18.5% increase in vegetated area, post-development.  

29.6% of the vegetated areas are planted with native species. 

California recently experienced the driest period in recorded history, and UC San Diego is mindful of water usage and treatment. NTPLLN’s design supports local water use restrictions and the university’s commitment to improving water efficiency by at least 4% annually. Water conservation strategies resulted in a predicted potable water use reduction of 47.5%. Actual potable water consumption resulted in a 14.9% reduction. The project’s measured water use intensity of 18.0 gal/ft2 is 50% lower than trends for in-operation residence halls per Energy Star Portfolio Manager benchmarks. Passive design solutions minimize heat rejection and evaporation often caused by cooling loads, while water efficiency strategies reduce the burden on local systems by avoiding approximately 2,750 tons of carbon emissions associated with potable water treatment over 30 years. The majority of potable water savings come from low-flow, high-efficiency shower heads installed throughout all residence halls. NTPLLN’s drought-tolerant vegetation and drip irrigation of non-potable, treated water reduces potable water use by approximately 244,000 gallons annually, and on-site bioswales naturally filter rainwater, leading to high-quality runoff. Municipally supplied recycled water (purple-pipe) diverts water from being discharged into ocean habitats and curbs reliance on imported water as demand throughout Southern California increases. 

Design intent

Describe how the project's stormwater and potable water strategies contribute to site and community resilience.

Connecting to and utilizing San Diego’s ever-expanding purple pipe system for recycled water is a key water resilience strategy for NTPLLN. UC San Diego uses recycled water for more than 25% of campus irrigation, and NTPLLN solely uses recycled water and infrastructure for irrigation needs. This limits the depletion of water supplies and manages operational costs as potable water becomes scarcer due to drought, restrictions, and rising costs. Drought-tolerant vegetation helps decrease overall consumption and offsets municipal potable water use, which has a higher associated carbon intensity.

Describe the quality of the water that runs off the site.

NTPLLN’s site manages stormwater with improved imperviousness and removal efficiencies that reduce harmful pollutants. The post-development runoff for a two-year, 24-hour storm has been reduced by approximately 28%, amounting to 14,800 cf/storm. Contributing to a healthy regional watershed, NTPLLN’s design leverages best management practices, which improved suspended solid removal efficiencies by more than 86%. In alignment with UC San Diego's Storm Water Management Program, NTPLLN helps prevent water pollution and keeps local beaches clean by eliminating dry weather flow discharges and by measurably reducing harmful pollutants (heavy metals, organics, bacteria, and sediment) from stormwater runoff.

Describe how and where the project's black water is treated.

Black water is discharged into UC San Diego’s sewer system. The university developed and is implementing a Sewer System Management Plan to properly manage, operate, and maintain its sanitary sewer system. The plan includes measures for minimizing and preventing sanitary sewer overflows, preserving ocean water quality, preventing public health hazards, responsibly handling service disruptions, and performing all operations to avoid personal injury, environmental impact, and property damages.

Metrics

Water use intensity (gal/sf/year)

Benchmark: LEEDv3 minimum water efficiency

Predicted: 11.1

Measured: 18.0

Reduction in potable water use (from benchmark)

Predicted: 47.5%

Measured: 14.9%

Total annual water demand met using potable sources

Predicted: 97.8%

Measured: 85.7%

22.1% of stormwater is managed on-site. 

NTPLLN is a mixed-use campus that generates economic and social value for the entire UC San Diego community. The total construction cost was $534,679.042 or $326/sf and triple bottom line cost benefit analysis (TBL-CBA) illuminated a net present value of $611,363,600 or $578/sf over a 30-year time frame. The project’s long-term value is experienced by the owner, the community, and the occupants; TBL-CBA results attribute approximately $17,027,200 to UC San Diego, $17,099,800 to La Jolla, and $577,236,600 to NTPLLN students, staff, and faculty. With a budget that assumed an affordable housing proforma, the project includes equitable shared spaces that improved the building efficiency ratio by 20%. A central utility plant reduces operational costs by 80%, and natural ventilation eliminates ducts, piping, and equipment from residences. Fewer above-ceiling systems allowed the design team to reduce building heights by 30 inches, providing first-cost savings and 1.3% total embodied carbon reductions (958-MT-CO2e) on materials and systems, including exterior enclosure, insulation, structural concrete, steel stud partitions, and HVAC. Energy efficiency measures exceed California’s Title 24 requirements, allowing the school to participate in San Diego Gas & Electric’s Savings By Design program, which garnered $202,9020 in funding that can be applied to other needs.

Explore how NTPLLN’s investment in growth benefits the client, UC San Diego, the community of La Jolla, and NTPLLN students, staff, and faculty in Fig. 1 Design for Economy.

Design intent

How does this project contribute to local and/or disadvantaged economies?

NTPLLN is the largest construction project in UC San Diego’s history and it provided jobs for more than 800 area construction workers. The neighborhood provides affordable housing for more than 2,000 students on campus, which reduces economic inequities associated with housing and development in the San Diego region. The on-site UC San Diego Craft Center offers affordable classes, workshops, and memberships for area residents to learn new skills and engage in the creative arts.

How did design choices reduce system sizes and minimize materials usage, allowing for lower cost and more efficiently designed systems/structure?

The design team right-sized buildings while accommodating university standards for residential unit mix and program area. The residential program utilizes a 60-foot-wide double-loaded corridor parti, which creates a consistent depth for units on either side of central corridors and maximizes the span of the flat-slab structural concrete system’s 30-foot limit. The design expands UC San Diego’s vernacular of exposed concrete, and interior and exterior design and finishing choices used limited material to lower long-term maintenance needs and costs. Natural ventilation strategies helped reduce the building’s height by 30 inches, providing significant embodied carbon and cost savings.

How did life cycle cost analysis influence the project's design?

The design team used a triple bottom line approach that encompasses the value of social, financial, and environmental impacts that support the university’s goal to become carbon neutral and its long-term vision for an equitable and sustainable future. Considering the integrated design strategies focused on sustainability, wellness, and energy performance, NTPLLN’s triple bottom line cost benefit analysis was estimated at $611,363,600, with a 206% return on investment, a 51.6% benefit-cost ratio, and a financial discounted payback period of 11.5 years. The project is intended to guide the design of additional projects throughout the university system.

Cost

$326 per sq. ft. 

The NTPLLN team adopted an interdisciplinary approach early in design to hit aggressive energy targets. Building massing leverages microclimate conditions for passive design, including solar exposure and natural ventilation. Operable windows, integrated trickle vents, and negatively pressurized continuous exhaust systems increase air volumes by more than 30%, dramatically enhancing indoor air quality and increasing cognitive functions by 1.5%. These strategies contribute to total passive survivability and add to the project’s resilience during potential grid failures. The high-performance design was informed by life cycle energy modeling that resulted in more than two-thirds of the total building area being naturally conditioned, a 30% energy improvement over CEC 2016 Title 24, and a 70% predicted energy reduction through the AIA 2030 Commitment. The measured performance of NTPLLN resulted in an 81% reduction compared to the benchmark (inclusive of renewables). On-site renewable energy (180 kW PV array) amounts to 4% of total energy, while 60.5% of the electricity consumption at NTPLLN is offset through renewable energy credit purchases, procured through the University of California Wholesale Power Program. Continuous benchmarking with Energy Star Portfolio Manager, and ongoing measurement and verification, aid in further decarbonizing energy and water operations at UC San Diego.

Design intent

Describe any energy challenges associated with the building type, intensity of use, or hours of operation, and how the design responds to these challenges.

UC San Diego challenged the design team to demonstrate that the building enclosure, namely the window openings and wall materials, would ensure adaptive thermal comfort criteria for naturally ventilated spaces in La Jolla and maintain ASHRAE Standard 55 requirements. To do so, the team used future, predicted weather files and shoebox modeling for each residence exposure to calibrate the enclosure’s design. The design prevents overheating and ensures passive survivability per CIBSE AM10. Additionally, integrated trickle vents and negatively pressurized continuous exhaust systems increase air volumes by more than 30% from minimum ventilation values.

Metrics

Is the building all-electric? Yes.

In its measured usage, including on-site renewables, did the project achieve its 2030 Commitment reduction target (70% reduction by 2015, 80% reduction by 2020)? Yes.

The project's total carbon (embodied + operational) over 10 years in kg CO2e is 119,873,274.

There is a 81.4% reduction (inclusive of renewables) from benchmark, measured.

4% of total energy is derived from renewable sources, measured.

There is a 77% reduction (inclusive of renewables) in operational carbon from benchmark, measured. 

Explore how NTPLLN’s design is informed by point-of-decision design and encourages healthy choices through accessibility and appeal in Fig. 2 Design for Well-being.

According to the latest National College Health Assessment, anxiety, depression, loneliness, physical inactivity, and poor eating habits are all common among college students. Leveraging Point of Decision Design, a framework by the Center for Advanced Design Research and Evaluation (CADRE) that encourages well-planned ecological schemes and cues to influence how individuals decide on how to participate in activities, the design team sought to make healthy choices easy by making them accessible, affordable, and appealing. Each building features healthy materials selections, extensive daylighting, scenic coastal views, and connections to the Southern California climate, which facilitate mental and physical wellness. Communal areas such as a rooftop vegetable garden and community kitchens on each residence hall floor encourage healthy eating, physical activity, and socializing. Students report increased satisfaction with their diet after moving to NTPLLN, and the university has used the Neighborhood as a pilot to overhaul its approach to food services.

“This project shows us what holistic wellbeing looks like and what can those critical goals tell us about a project.”—Jury comment

Design intent

Was a chemicals of concern list or other third-party framework used to inform material selection? If so, how?

The design team tracked HPDs for high-impact materials, and the mindful MATERIALS Library helped the team review and track relevant material selections throughout the design process. The team made several selections with product-specific, Type III external EPDs, including drywall, roof membrane, and glass products. To support healthy indoor environments, interior materials were selected to reduce contaminants that are odorous, irritating, or harmful to the comfort and well-being of installers and building occupants.

How did the project advocate for greater transparency in building material supply chains?

The mindful MATERIALS Library helped the design team highlight products with socially responsible supply chains. Approximately 33% of materials for NTPLLN were regionally sourced, which in addition to reducing emissions, decreased the number of steps and burdens in the supply chain.

Metrics

75% of the regularly occupied area is daylit (sDA 300/50%).

0% of the regularly occupied area is compliant with annual glare criteria (ASE 1000, 250).

95% of the regularly occupied area has quality views.

80% of the regularly occupied area has access to operable windows.

The design goal for maximum C02 is 600 ppm. The goal is relative to an absolute value. 

NTPLLN’s building materials are in keeping with UC San Diego’s distinct architectural vernacular. The neighborhood’s warm, white, exposed cast-in-place concrete structures and wood panels have limited additional finishes and substrates. Structural post-tension floor slabs reduced their thickness and rebar use, increased resistance to soil deflection, and minimized building heights, leading to less clad surface area and reduced materials and embodied carbon. The design-build process for NTPLLN also incorporated best practices for waste management and recycling, with 85.91% of construction waste diverted from landfills. The team accurately modeled the entire project, including building systems, in a virtual environment prior to construction, allowing trade partners to prefabricate and quickly install low-waste component parts on-site. With sustainable, low-impact materials, the team also limited reliance on off-site production and shipping, again reducing the construction’s carbon footprint. The university’s first micro-anaerobic digester, located by the main dining hall, generates on-site renewable energy and organic fertilizer from food waste, establishing a precedent for wider adoption throughout the university. Helping UC San Diego achieve its carbon neutrality goal, the design team worked with university representatives to overhaul specifications and standards for capital projects, so future construction projects will benefit from the resource-conscious methods introduced with NTPLLN.

Explore how NTPLLN’s building materials take into consideration resource-responsible construction to minimize waste and emissions in Fig. 3 Design for Resources.

Design intent

Did embodied carbon considerations inform the design? How?

The design team employed several design strategies to reduce the overall embodied carbon of the development. The use of Portland-limestone cement (PLC) Type IL (13) reduced embodied carbon by approximately 10% compared to a Type II/V baseline. Additionally, after a valuation review, the team reduced building heights by approximately 30 inches, providing first-cost savings as well as an additional 1.3% reduction in embodied carbon. Building energy modeling and performance-based code compliance enabled the team to reduce building enclosure insulation (notably with the roof) from prescriptive values to optimize both operational carbon and embodied carbon.

Did the idea of circularity/circular economy inform the design? How?

NTPLNN’s modular micro-anaerobic digester creates a local environmental impact catalyst, advances campus efforts toward carbon neutrality, and supports circular economy thinking with its ability to fully valorize food waste. The digester generates biogas from on-site organic food waste and materials while producing valuable enrichened liquid fertilizer for community gardens on campus. This process diverts waste from the landfill and eliminates the emissions generated from off-site trucking. The anaerobic digester is a closed-loop system where the conversion of organics into fuel and nutrients promotes a community-based, farm-to-table, and back-to-farm life cycle.

Describe any special steps taken during design/construction to make disassembly, deconstruction, or reuse easier at the building's end of life.

Like many structures throughout UC San Diego, NTPLLN buildings are designed with structural concrete as a primary material to stand strong for many decades to come. Exterior fiber cement panels used throughout the campus feature irregular joint patterns designed to minimize waste of standard material sizes and can be downcycled after use.

Metrics

0% of the project floor area was reused or adapted from existing buildings.

Was embodied carbon modeled? Yes.

52.1 kg CO2e/sf is the project's embodied carbon intensity.

Some of the installed wood is FSC certified. 

As a premiere scientific research institution and one of the first universities to launch a Climate Action Plan, UC San Diego is a leader in climate studies and education. NTPLLN’s design emphasizes resilience and potential changes in the environment and human behavior. All buildings are designed for passive survivability. Informed by predictive future climate modeling (IPCC AR5, RCP 8.5, 95% warming percentile), the team designed natural ventilation systems to maintain indoor thermal comfort per ASHRAE standards in the face of a more extreme climate future. Natural disasters and increasing storms threaten California, and the design includes bioswales, drought-resistive vegetation, and landscaped areas that capture, infiltrate, and treat stormwater runoff for 90% of the average annual rainfall in La Jolla. A three-story underground ParkSmart Gold parking structure includes energy efficiency solutions such as emissions sensors and natural ventilation. The parking structure has generous lightwells and increased structural loads, allowing it to be converted to additional academic space as the university moves beyond its reliance on cars.

Design intent

In what ways does the design anticipate climate change over the life of the building?

To ensure the climatic performance of the buildings’ enclosure today and in the future, the design team conducted prototype shoebox modeling with site-specific weather files as well as future climate files forecasted to 30 years. The team optimized building orientation, massing, thermal insulation, fenestration performance, adaptive thermal comfort, indoor air quality, energy intensity, cost, and operational carbon so the buildings can continue to perform and support human comfort in an uncertain climate future.

How does the design anticipate restoring or adapting function in the face of stress or shock, such as natural disasters, blackouts, etc.?

All buildings at NTPLLN are designed to maintain human comfort without active mechanical systems. Natural ventilation, coupled with campus-wide combined heat and power systems and renewable energy sources, provide year-round passive survivability. All student bedrooms have operable windows, and each building offers multiple access points to the outdoors. NTPLLN would act as a safe harbor for its more than 2,000 student residents in the event of disaster, with design strategies that accommodate life safety and continued operations during seismic events, drought, extreme temperatures, and utilities disruption.

Metrics

Research Score: 70

Resiliency Score: 50

As a student residential community, NTPLLN would act as a safe harbor for its more than 2,000 residents during a crisis. NTPLLN's buildings provide abundant natural light and access to the outdoors and are designed to maintain human comfort without active mechanical systems. Through passive sustainability, the building can function for 8,760 hours. Natural ventilation, coupled with campus-wide combined heat, power systems, and injected renewable energy sources, offer year-round passive survivability. 

NTPLLN is a “live-learn lab” designed to foster iterative improvement and innovation. Researchers from the university, architecture team, and collaborating groups assessed the project’s impact on students, connecting design intent with measured outcomes related to depression, diet, and satisfaction with the built environment.

Throughout the 2020–2021 academic year, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, student fellows conducted behavior mapping, focus groups, surveys, and data analysis. Their published research findings reveal that student well-being improved significantly, even amid unprecedented isolation and health concerns on college campuses worldwide.

The project’s design, research findings, and measurable health outcomes have been recognized with an ASID Outcomes of Design Award, a Center for Health Design Touchstone Award (the first education sector project to receive its highest honor, Platinum), and as a Fast Company Innovation by Design finalist.

Explore how NTPLLN serves as a "live-learn-lab" dedicated to fostering design innovation in Fig. 4 Design for Discovery.

NTPLLN is fostering a rising generation of sustainability advocates with on-site educational materials and a course co-developed by the project team and the university about the connection between environmental health and human well-being.

The lessons learned at NTPLLN and the message that design can improve the health of people and planet are spreading beyond campus through graduates, respected external organizations, and the press.

Design intent

What lessons learned through this project have been used to improve subsequent projects?

NTPLLN’s integrated design and evaluation approaches have offered opportunities to enhance university operations and influence the future of higher education design. Data collected at NTPLLN inform a feedback loop with UC San Diego facility operators for continuous improvement beyond LEED requirements. Student satisfaction and well-being studies conducted as part of the project have informed the design for UC San Diego’s Theatre District Living and Learning Neighborhood, which is currently under construction, as well as several student housing projects at other universities currently underway.

If a post-occupancy evaluation was conducted, describe the process and outcomes.

A coalition of researchers conducted occupancy evaluations at NTPLLN after its fall 2020 opening. When COVID-19 restrictions prevented professional members of the coalition from spending time on campus, two student fellows conducted post-occupancy surveys and interviews with residents and other users. Researchers found an 8.2% reduction in student self-reported depression, 11% increase in satisfaction with diet, 8.4% increase in satisfaction with transportation, 12.85% increase in satisfaction with campus social spaces, and a 27.96% increase in satisfaction with residential spaces. Students who reported higher satisfaction with their environment tended to report higher satisfaction with mental well-being.

If a post-occupancy performance testing was conducted, describe the process and outcomes.

To ensure the proper functioning of natural ventilation systems, the design team completed performance verification upon occupancy. Using a handheld anemometer, infrared thermal camera, and carbon dioxide meter, the team quantitively measured air flow rates, prevailing mean outdoor temperature, operative temperatures, and observed changes to carbon dioxide concentrations within residences. Variables presented by operable windows required verification that comfort within residences could meet ASHRAE Adaptive Thermal Comfort requirements as well as CIBSE AM10 reasonable CO2 concentrations. All measurements met the project’s design intent.

Metrics

Post-Occupancy Evaluation Score: 100

Transparency Score: 100

Commissioning Score: 40

Feedback Score: 100 

Year of design completion: 2018

Year of substantial project completion: 2020

Gross conditioned floor area: 1,057,950 sq. ft.

Number of stories the building has: 61

Project site: Previously developed land

Project site context/setting: Suburban

Annual hours of operation: 8,760

Site area: 915,500 sq. ft.

Cost of construction, excluding furnishing: $534,679,042

Total annual users: 2,904 

Architect: HKS, Inc.  

Associate Architect: Safdie Rabines Architects

Electrical: A.O.Reed & Dynaelectric  

Engineer - Civil: Michael Baker International

Engineer - MEP: McParlane & Associates

Engineer - Structural: Magnusson Klemencic Associates

General Contractor: Clark Construction Group

IT: ISEC Inc.  

Landscape Architect: OJB Landscape Architecture

Lighting: Elen 

Katie Ackerly, AIA, Chair, David Baker, Oakland, Calif.

Julian Owens, Assoc. AIA, Jacobs, Arlington, Va.

Seonhee Kim, AIA, Design Collective, Baltimore

Avinash Rajagopal, Metropolis, New York