Ben Franklin Tech Ventures-Addition

Ben Franklin TechVentures² located on Lehigh University’s Mountaintop campus, is an expansion of the original building.   It was formerly part of the Bethlehem Steel Homer Research Labs complex. Spillman Farmer Architects renovated the original site of Bethlehem Steel to include the new 47,000 square foot addition comprising offices, research labs, and conference meeting spaces to support the resident companies’ entrepreneurial culture and fuel innovation.

Ben Franklin TechVentures² utilizes many integrated technologies to maximize energy savings while not compromising the functional requirements of its work environment. The uniqueness of this building hinges on the communication among different technologies to make intelligent environmental decisions for the building as a whole.

• Building orientation takes advantage of natural daylight yet minimizes heat gain and solar glare.
• Sun shades on the south façade manage the effect of direct solar heat and glare.
• High-performance windows, walls, and roof reduce heat gain and heat loss.
• High reflectance TPO roofing keeps the building cooler in summer and reduces heat island effect.
• The HVAC system uses refrigerants that contain no HCFC’s or ozone depleting refrigerants.
• Daylight harvesting lighting systems and an automated shading system reduce lighting energy.
• Energy-efficient lighting and an automatic window shading system will help reduce electricity usage.
• The rooftop solar photovoltaic system will convert sunlight into electricity for onsite renewable energy to power the building.
• Light shelves and high light reflectance value (LRV) wall and ceiling finishes propagate daylight into spaces and reduce lighting energy.
• Task lights at each workstation provide energy-efficient direct light where and when needed.