Opened in July 2020, Micron Center for Materials Research, named for the Boise-based international computer storage and memory technology company whose $25 million gift helped make the building possible, is a campus and community hub for materials research and serves as the home of the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering.
The 97,000-square-foot building provides research laboratories and spaces, specialized learning environments, a 250-seat lecture hall, two large classrooms, offices and work spaces for faculty members, as well as staff and graduate students advancing materials education and research at Boise State.
Sustainably Designed
During the initial design efforts, the university and its partners from Hummel Architects and Hoffman Construction researched and compared similar building types in related climate zones and found that, on average, lab-oriented buildings consume almost three and a half times as much energy as an office building.
Some of the sustainability features of the building include:
- Displacement ventilation in academic spaces which seeks to warm or cool the occupants instead of the space
- High performance glazing, boilers and energy recovery units
- LED lighting and control systems utilize scheduling, occupancy sensors, and dimming to respond to the building’s occupancy
- The designers considered a comprehensive energy model where the systems were sized correctly for the building and occupant needs
- Landscaping utilizes native and adaptive plant materials suited for the Treasure Valley climate
- All storm water is retained on site and goes into storage retention devices underground to provide water for landscaping
