Georgia Tech Engineered Biosystems Building: Water Harvesting & Reuse Systems

Project Description

In collaboration with Lake Flato Architects and Cooper Carry Architects, Biohabitats provided planning and engineering services for water infrastructure for the Georgia Institute of Technology’s Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB) and Commons Building. Constructed in 2015, the 220,000 square foot EBB, which enhances the Institute’s partnership with Emory University Hospital and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, houses research labs for engineering, biology, chemistry, and computing related to human health and biomedical breakthroughs. Biohabitats planned a highly efficient water system for the EBB which harvests rainwater, cooling condensate, and foundation dewatering in an above ground cistern and reuses this water to flush toilets in the building. Overflow from this system flows, along with stormwater, through water features and into an underground cistern, where it is stored for reuse in irrigation.

Biohabitats also participated in a design charrette and provided water systems planning and engineering for the proposed Commons Building, which will house a new dining hall, student gathering areas, and new spaces for the School of Music. For the conceptual design phase, Biohabitats provided water reuse options based on a preliminary water balance and led the Site and Community Design Team in distilling goals and strategies related to maximizing water re-use on site. These included harvesting and reusing rainwater, cooling condensate, and potentially greywater for reuse in flushing toilets and irrigating the landscape.