Features

UC Berkeley development officials will meet this morning (Tuesday) with builders eager for the chance to build an $8 million guest house at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 

University of California Regents unanimously approved the project July 19, along with the lab’s Long Range Development Plan 2025. 

According to the university’s call for bids, three construction companies have gone through the qualification process: B.B.I. Construction, Inc., of Oakland; C. Overaa & Co. of Richmond; and W.E. Lyons Construction Co. of Oakland. 

Anticipated guests are visiting faculty, graduate students and others visiting or working on projects at the lab. 

Final bids are due on Sept. 5 and will be opened when evaluation scores of individual proposals are announced a week later. 

The 22,500-square-foot, three-story building will house 44 “standard” bedrooms, 12 larger rooms and four “studio suites.” Construction is required to meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating “silver” standard. 

That ranking falls below the gold and platinum ratings, requiring between 33 and 38 points compared to the 52 to 69 points awarded the highest, platinum certification—the ranking awarded the California Environmental Protection Agency’s 25-story Sacramento headquarters. 

Developers of the David Brower Center office building now under construction in downtown Berkeley are also aiming for the highest certification.