This sentiment-and reliance on manufactured weather-is one of those unintended consequences that Lindsey Roberts described in her story on the history and invention of air conditioning. When it opened in 2000, the Sandra Day OConnor federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix was both heralded as a sign that the courthouse was regaining ground. While the current system does cool the atrium, many feel it’s not enough. The GSA’s estimates put the price at approximately $800,000 per year with a traditional HVAC system it costs approximately $51,000 with the adiabatic cooling system in place now. “Court officers at the security station by the building’s entrance have special permission to take off the polyester jackets and ties that are part of their uniform and work in short-sleeve white shirts,” Santos writes.Ĭooling the atrium with a conventional HVAC system would be too costly, Madison says. Inside the bright atrium temperatures have been clocked in the 90s, making it almost a necessity for employees to don shorts and short-sleeve shirts during the hot summer days.
Often described as looking like a wave in the desert, the steel-and-glass building makes impressive use of light-perhaps a bit too much so. Santos wrote that employees say the building is beautiful, but impractical.ĭesigned by Richard Meier, the courthouse’s design is on par with the architect’s minimalist style. Madison says it’s important to keep in mind that the atrium was built to be a transitory space. For example, if it is 110 degrees outside, the atrium temperature is able to be cooled to approximately 85 degrees. After exhaustive computational fluid dynamic studies, engineers found a combination of natural air currents and water mist would cool the atrium to acceptable comfort levels for most of the year, providing as much as a 30 degree temperature differential from the outdoors to the atrium. The atrium performs precisely as predicted by the engineers during the design phase. Traci Madison, a spokeswoman for the GSA, wrote in an email: But the General Services Administration, which manages the building, says the cooling system operates the way engineers intended it to. Many people working in and passing through the courthouse’s atrium say temperatures are unbearable, according to a story by Fernanda Santos in The New York Times. While O’Connor has been busy defending Chief Justice John Roberts for his decision to uphold President Obama’s health care overhaul, the people inside the Sandra Day O’Connor Federal Courthouse atrium have been working up a sweat. Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and her namesake courthouse in Phoenix have been feeling the heat lately. Florian, flickr Sunrise over the Sandra Day O'Connor Federal Courthouse.
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