UO: Matthew Knight Arena

The 12,500 seat, multi-use Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, OR, replaced the old McArthur Court and provides a new venue for the University of Oregon Ducks’ basketball team. The 405,000sf building holds basketball games as well as other sporting events, concerts, and performances. It is located on the east side of campus at the corner of Franklin Boulevard and Villard Streets.

Scope: NWESI provided the testing, adjusting, and balancing for all HVAC equipment. The building uses four, large central station air handling units on the upper mechanical floor to provide conditioned air to the main arena bowl and the surrounding main and upper concourse levels. The large units also provide various modes of smoke control through selective operation of their motorized dampers and accompanying smoke exhaust/relief fans. These modes of operation are used either to clear smoke from the arena as part of the planned event, or in the case of fire to allow the occupants safe exit.  Several other smaller air handling units and fan coil units provide conditioning for the club and support areas surrounding the main public spaces. Most of the larger fan systems have some sort of air to air energy recovery system to increase efficiency