2008 Woodie Awards
Follow-up response to 10/26 campus center article
Issue date: 11/2/07 Section: News
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Campus center architects and Lynn Hagee, '58, Lawrence's Director of Conferences and Summer Programs and the campus center project coordinator, addressed questions about the eco-friendliness of the new campus center as well as other buildings on campus.
1. Why is Lawrence's goal a Silver LEED certification rather than a Gold or Platinum certification?
Nat Stein, AIA, LEED AP of Uihlein-Wilson Architects: Gold was not initially targeted for several reasons, some driven by natural site constraints, some by budget constraints, some by campus preference, and some by the nature of this building type.
There are several Sustainable Sites credits that do not apply to the campus center, such as redevelopment of dense urban fabric, brownfield redevelopment, campus hybrid vehicle quantities, and parking capacity. There are several credit points related to building re-use which did not apply to our project, as the Hulbert House had little to offer us (in terms of material quantities to be reused in the new building).
We have attained almost all of the Water Efficiency credits, but campus was not interested in going after compost-toilets (waterless toilets) for several reasons, which may have earned us another point.
There are a lot of "green" materials in the project and we have qualified for many of the credits in the LEED division for Materials and Resources, but some cannot be achieved here. We have made efforts to qualify for the credits that involve obtaining materials within our 500-mile radius, as well as those credits associated with low VOC content and recycled content.
There are also credits related to controllability of building systems and natural ventilation in the LEED divisions Energy and Atmosphere and Indoor Environmental Quality, but given our climate and site location, and the intended 24-hour usage of the building, we elected not to design a large amount of operable windows.
The HVAC system of the building is highly complex and too much uncontrolled outside air from open windows would cause temperature and condensation swings inside, not to mention wasted heat.
1. Why is Lawrence's goal a Silver LEED certification rather than a Gold or Platinum certification?
Nat Stein, AIA, LEED AP of Uihlein-Wilson Architects: Gold was not initially targeted for several reasons, some driven by natural site constraints, some by budget constraints, some by campus preference, and some by the nature of this building type.
There are several Sustainable Sites credits that do not apply to the campus center, such as redevelopment of dense urban fabric, brownfield redevelopment, campus hybrid vehicle quantities, and parking capacity. There are several credit points related to building re-use which did not apply to our project, as the Hulbert House had little to offer us (in terms of material quantities to be reused in the new building).
We have attained almost all of the Water Efficiency credits, but campus was not interested in going after compost-toilets (waterless toilets) for several reasons, which may have earned us another point.
There are a lot of "green" materials in the project and we have qualified for many of the credits in the LEED division for Materials and Resources, but some cannot be achieved here. We have made efforts to qualify for the credits that involve obtaining materials within our 500-mile radius, as well as those credits associated with low VOC content and recycled content.
There are also credits related to controllability of building systems and natural ventilation in the LEED divisions Energy and Atmosphere and Indoor Environmental Quality, but given our climate and site location, and the intended 24-hour usage of the building, we elected not to design a large amount of operable windows.
The HVAC system of the building is highly complex and too much uncontrolled outside air from open windows would cause temperature and condensation swings inside, not to mention wasted heat.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Don Arnosti
posted 11/06/07 @ 4:41 PM CST
As a Lawrence Alum (79) who has long worked in environmental conservation, I am very pleased to see such serious discussions, and better yet actions being taken to reduce the environmental footprint of LU. (Continued…)
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