Design Engineers Headquarters

Our state-of-the-art offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa were designed to be beautiful, light-filled, and sustainable. The project is LEED Gold certificated, including the maximum 10 points available for the optimization of energy performance plus 1 additional innovation point.

The mechanical scope of work includes a water-efficient plumbing system including waterless urinals, dual flush sensor operated water closets and low-flow sensor-operated lavatories. The entire facility is protected by an automatic sprinkler system. The HVAC system consists of a network of water to air heat pumps connected to a vertical ground heat exchanger, an energy recovery unit to provide outdoor air for ventilation and fully networked DDC controls.

The electrical scope of work includes energy-efficient lighting with integrated day lighting controls, occupancy sensors and building-wide low voltage lighting controls resulting an average lighting power density of 0.4 W/sf as compared to average 1.7 W/sf for a similar standard building.

In addition to a structured cabling plant for telephone and data, the telecommunications scope of work includes access control and burglar systems as well as AV systems for conference rooms.

The completed building uses 55% less energy than a code-compliant building. The water conservation features will save over 30% of the water of a standard building.

Download the Project Case Study: Design Engineers Offices