Berkeley City College (formerly Vista College) is an expansion of the Peralta Community College District in downtown Berkeley. The 165,000 sqft multi-use educational facility houses classrooms, laboratories, offices, and an auditorium. To ensure a practical and cost effective design for the District, Taylor Engineers performed a detailed life cycle analysis including operating and maintenance costs to inform the HVAC system and equipment bid selection processes.

The HVAC system for this building consists of a water-cooled, direct expansion variable air volume system, a variable speed condenser water pumping system, and CO2 demand-controlled ventilation. The energy efficient laboratory design features a two-position variable flow laboratory fume hood exhaust system to reduce flow when the building is unoccupied and utilitizes transfer air to minimize the need to condition laboratory exhaust makeup airflow.