The Center for Computing & Data Sciences wins 2024 Kyoto Global Design Award

November 19, 2024

The Center for Computing & Data Sciences at Boston University has won a Kyoto Global Design Award in the Environment category. 

The Kyoto Global Design Awards celebrate the diversity of design worldwide. Candidates in the Environment category are judged for innovation, creativity, functionality, and environmental impact. 

Responding to Boston University’s need for a teaching and research facility that would showcase its rigour and excellence in data science, the Center brings 3000 students, faculty, and staff together under one roof, giving them a flexible, welcoming space for research, study, and teaching. 

The University’s first LEED Platinum building, it was designed to meet the University’s Climate Action Plan’s goals, contribute to its carbon neutrality target by 2040, and contribute to Boston’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. 

The Center is operationally fossil-fuel-free. A closed-loop geothermal system heats and cools the building, with 31 boreholes drilled 1500 feet below ground. This provides 90% of the building’s thermal capacity. Other energy efficient strategies include a high-performance triple-glazed envelope with external sun shading louvres; enhanced heating, ventilating, and air conditioning; heat recovery; and daylighting, occupancy controls for interior lighting and plug load.  

Read more about the Center.