Medicine and
Health
Sciences
Campus
Set across 88-acres of the West Des Moines Innovation Corridor, Des Moines University's new, ground-up campus establishes a premier destination for students, faculty, staff and friends of the university.
RDG's design for the campus takes direction from the site's natural beauty and diverse physical characteristics, building on the concept, "the edge of advancement," to imagine an innovative, iconic campus that reflects DMU's values, respects the land, connects to the community and offers an inclusive, intuitive environment.
With academic functions at its core, RDG's design creates technology-rich, flexible education spaces that support innovative teaching methods and expand research activity and clinical services. Clear wayfinding reinforces equitable design and provides convenient connections to wellness, campus support and parking. Landscape design transforms the surrounding site into a restorative panorama of naturalized areas, innovative rainwater solutions, trails and outdoor gathering spaces. The new campus opened in 2023, the year that also marked DMU's 125th anniversary.
Sustainability
RDG worked closely with MidAmerican Energy through its Commercial New Construction Program to maximize energy efficiency.
DMU’s West Des Moines campus incorporates several energy-efficient measures, including a ground-coupled heat pump system that handles simultaneous heating and cooling loads, an efficient lighting design that reduces energy use by 50% and dims automatically with sunlight, regenerative elevators that convert braking friction into electricity, an occupancy-based automatic ventilation system and a system to recover and repurpose heat from exhaust air. These measures have significantly reduced energy consumption and carbon emissions, achieving a 41 Energy Use Intensity compared to the 90 EUI baseline, a 56% reduction in electric usage, and a 65% reduction in embodied carbon. Verified electric savings have also led to rebate savings for the university. Additionally, the campus is powered by over 88% renewable wind and solar energy generated in Iowa, thanks to MidAmerican’s GreenAdvantage program.