PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Shawmut Design and Construction joined the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) to break ground on the institute’s first new student residence in 30 years.

Designed by award-winning architect and RISD alumnus Nader Tehrani and his Boston-based firm NADAAA, the new 43,500-square-foot residence hall will house 153 students on six floors. Part of a larger quad enhancement project, it will feature amenities like workrooms, makerspace, bike storage, a shared kitchen, and outdoor terrace, and upon completion, it will allow for the phased renovations of Nickerson and Homer Halls.

“We’re incredibly proud to build RISD its first new residence facility in 30 years,” said Ron Simoneau, vice president at Shawmut. “With collaboration, paired with Shawmut’s IPD and lean construction principles, at the center of the construction and design teams approach, I am confident this project will be a success while marking a transformational moment for the campus.”

Slated to open in August 2019, the state-of-the-art project will engage an Integrated Project Delivery Method (IPD) to collaboratively fuse the talents of the team. The innovative design is influenced by thoughtful input from the campus community, including common spaces for socializing, making, reflecting and creative expression, and is tailored to meet the needs of RISD’s art and design students.

The new residence hall will be located at 60 Waterman St. on the campus’ residential quad. Site work on the new residence building began this August and included excavation and retaining wall construction. In June 2019, renovation of Nickerson Hall begins and is expected to be completed in August 2020. At that time, Homer Hall Phase 1 renovation will begin and will be completed in January 2021. Phase 2 of the Homer Hall renovation begins in January 2021 and will be complete in August of that same year.

Construction of the new residence hall is one facet of RISD’s 2015 Campus Master Plan. One update to the original plan was that RISD engaged NADAAA in the fall of 2016 for a study of the campus’ residential quad. The goals of the study were to develop 500 beds of interconnected first-year housing on the residential quad, to allow for the renovation of Homer and Nickerson Halls to address deferred maintenance while maintaining overall bed count, to create student-centered common spaces, to improve campus and city connections to the residential quad in order to maximize accessibility to and within the residential quad, to address sustainability, and to provide updated space for existing administrative offices.

NADAAA’s work over the academic year included numerous meetings with campus constituents, a student survey, monthly meetings with the campus project team, presentations to the Board of Trustees in October, February and June, development of multiple options that were reduced through the project team, Campus Master Plan Committee and Board meetings to a final scheme that was presented to the Board in June of 2017.

“We are thrilled to be able to offer a new residence hall that so fully supports the education we offer our students,” said Jack Silva, vice president of RISD Campus Services. “Planning the residence hall has been a true collaborative effort and we are pleased to be working again with alumnus Nader Tehrani and to have Shawmut as a partner in leading the project.”

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“The utility savings from this first phase of work have outperformed our expectations,” said MSU Assistant Facilities Director Dan Stevenson in a statement. “These projects have allowed us to proactively control our utility costs and build infrastructure that will last for decades.”

The Bozeman office of Seattle-headquartered design, construction and energy services firm McKinstry performed the ESPC. The $8 million project was completed in 2013 following an intensive energy audit, which laid out numerous opportunities for utility savings, according to a statement by McKinstry. The company guaranteed the university an annual savings of more than $370,000 from reductions in energy, water, steam and natural gas use as well as peak demand.

After the project’s first year, McKinstry confirmed the ESPC’s actual savings were approximately $429,000 — 15 percent higher than the original projection. Considering those initial savings projections were calculated using the state utility rates established when the original energy audit occurred in 2010 — in which time state utility rates have increased by approximately 7 percent — the ESPC has actually resulted in an even greater annual energy savings, according to a statement by McKinstry.

The project’s first phase included both mechanical and lighting upgrades in several auxiliary buildings, including the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, which hosts sporting events, concerts and trade shows. University students advocated for and largely supported the energy upgrades, which are helping the school meet its sustainability goals while also improving livability and comfort in facilities such as the residence and dining halls, according to McKinstry. The resulting reductions in utility consumption have reduced the university’s annual carbon footprint by more than 10,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to removing 1,000 average homes from the energy grid, the company said.

“Montana State University has been a trailblazer for public organizations in the state,” said Jeff Davis, business unit manager for McKinstry, in a statement. “Their decision to forge ahead with energy upgrades across dozens of campus buildings demonstrates their long-term vision for the health and sustainability of the university.”

Two subsequent projects have also been completed on the MSU campus, and any energy and cost savings resulting are currently being measured and verified.

The energy savings performance contracting legislation that supported the project was enacted in Montana in 2007. The university’s ESPC was the first of its kind by an institution within the Montana University System. There also is currently a collaborative effort continuing within the state to improve statutory language and determine how services can be improved to encourage mutually beneficial ESPCs for state and local government and K-12 schools, according to the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy.

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The district signed the $3.6 million ESPC with Framingham, Mass.-based Ameresco, Inc., an energy efficiency company that has worked on renewable energy solutions for facilities throughout the country. The contract will focus on infrastructure upgrades to 19 schools and four administrative buildings that serve over 8,400 students.

There are a total of eight elementary schools, five middle schools, four high schools and one K-12 and the Western Nevada Regional Youth Center — an alternative school. All schools in the district will receive energy efficient upgrades as part of the contract.

“Lyon County School District is proud of the relationship it has developed with Ameresco. We have been extremely pleased with their professionalism, expertise and commitment to the district’s project,” said Keith Savage, Deputy Superintendent of Lyon County School District. “The bottom line is that Ameresco delivers what they say they will deliver.”

Energy efficiency measures scheduled for completion by October 2012 include lighting systems, vending machine controls, computer power management, trash compactors, demand controlled ventilation and programmable thermostats.

“As one of the largest school districts in Nevada, Lyon County School District is setting a powerful example for other districts and communities,” said B.N. Tripathi, Vice President of Ameresco. “We are pleased to partner with such a forward-looking school district. We worked to ensure that this project has both short and long term benefits by hiring local contractors and vendors to complete the project.”

The energy conservation measures will help reduce energy demand and consumption — and are expected to cut LCSD’s operations and maintenance costs by nearly $25,000 by retrofitting light installations district wide. The energy efficient upgrades also allow the district to save $77,000 in rebates from the local natural gas and electric utility companies.

The greenhouse gas reduction benefits of the LCSD upgrades include the avoidance of 1,928 standard tons of carbon dioxide per year. This reduction in carbon dioxide emissions is equivalent to powering 208 homes each year.

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