Osborn Engineering provided LEED Fundamental (EA pr1) commissioning services for a new 5-acre, $25 million African Elephant Crossing builds on the Zoo’s long tradition of elephant care. The state-of-the-art exhibit showcases best practices in animal management, naturalistic environments and conservation education.

 

Located near the Zoo’s main entrance, African Elephant Crossing offers exceptional viewing areas for Zoo visitors, including open-air viewing, a nose-to-trunk window, an elevated feeding station and a gated crossing where people can watch as the elephants pass by to migrate from one yard to the next. Spread over five acres of lightly wooded grasslands, African Elephant Crossing features two large yards for roaming, ponds for swimming, expanded sleeping quarters and a heated outdoor range, in addition to other features and exhibits. In addition to the Zoo’s African elephant herd, African Elephant Crossing houses meerkats, naked mole rats, African rock pythons and a spectacular collection of colorful birds.

 

HVAC design included high efficiency hot water heating system, indoor and outdoor underslab hot water heating distribution system in all animal areas and 100% outdoor air distribution systems. Osborn commissioned the HVAC (and associated controls), Lighting and Lighting Controls, and Domestic Hot Water systems.

 

In 2012, the African Elephant Crossing, received two prestigious awards from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA). The AZA awarded African Elephant Crossing with the Top Honor in the Education Award category and a Significant Achievement Award in the Exhibit Design category. Notably the project was able to achieve an 18.4% energy savings compared to the ASHRAE 90.1 Baseline Building even though the facility utilizes 100% outside air and operates 24/7. Additionally the project obtained a 36.6% water reduction compared to the LEED Baseline Building and obtained an Innovation point for process water efficiency by utilizing ultra-high efficiency filtration to recycle the water in the elephant pools.

 

This project earned a LEED™ NC v2.2 Gold Certification.