The Sustainable Lifecycle of the Terman Engineering Center

Lessons learned from the Frederick E. Terman Engineering Center’s construction methodology, operational history, and eventual demolition inform sustainable construction, operation, and demolition practices. The life-cycle approach to sustainable building ensures the Terman Engineering Center continues to add value to Stanford’s campus today.

Innovative Construction

Completed in 1978, the Terman Engineering Center, iconic former home to the School of Engineering, incorporated innovative sustainability features, including operable windows to facilitate passive ventilation and timber structural members sourced locally. Both natural ventilation and sustainable material sourcing are now common practice in Stanford’s new high-performance buildings.

Conscientious Demolition

The Terman Building demolition project diverted 99.6 percent of all building materials and components from the landfill.

Conscientious demolition reflects Stanford’s commitment to sustainability and responsible management through the end of a building’s life. The Terman Building demolition project diverted 99.6 percent of all building materials and components from the landfill. Material unfit for salvage was recycled, with preference given to onsite recycling where feasible.

For example, concrete from the Terman Building was pulverized into compactable rock and used to infill portions of the basement to stabilize the structure during demolition and the subsequent park construction. This strategy reduced the need to truck in soil to serve the same purpose and therefore decreased the carbon footprint of the project as a whole. Where soil was required for rough grading above the pulverized concrete, it was obtained from excavation spoils associated with concurrent campus projects.

Salvaged Materials

Stanford used a balanced approach to evaluate material salvage opportunities, weighing the feasibility of reusing building elements against the recovery cost, schedule, and other impacts on the surrounding community. Input from the university community, including faculty and staff and the project’s contractors and consultants, guided the selection process.

Salvaged elements of the former structure can be found integrated into other buildings across campus:

• Terman roof tiles can be found on the roof of the West Campus Recreation Center and Arrillaga Family Sports Center projects.
• The distinctive louvered exterior shutters live on, incorporated into buildings at the Stanford Research Park.
• Chairs from Terman Auditorium were refurbished, and students now sit in them at the new Bioengineering/Chemical Engineering Building in the Science and Engineering Quad. 
• Terman’s concrete pavers, now in the Petersen-Mitchell courtyard, are walked on every day.
• Exterior lighting fixtures and benches made from salvaged wooden beams circle the park that now occupies the demolition site.

The Department of Project Management, working with Sustainable Stanford, found a new home or use for just about everything from the generator to the fire alarm equipment.

Sustainable demolition efforts like these have helped increase the university’s landfill diversion rate.