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Café Renovation Increases Efficiency

PHILADELPHIA — A café at the University of Pennsylvania’s business school recently received LEED Gold certification, a part of the design firm’s overall plan to increase the efficiency of the hall.

Joe’s Cafe, the Wharton School’s LEED Gold for Commercial Interiors project, is located in Steinberg Hall – Dietrich Hall, which houses administration, several academic department offices, Wharton faculty offices, conference rooms, and teaching spaces.

Photo credit: D.A. Webster Photography.

The building was originally designed by McKim, Mead and White in 1952.

Philadelphia-based Voith & Mactavish Architects was retained to prepare a concept design for the building, with the initial focus on creating a unified image for the Wharton campus and incorporating the core aesthetics of the campus’s flagship building, Jon M. Huntsman Hall, according to the firm.

“The sustainable initiatives of the school and desire to create space for collegiality was central when designing this café," said Daniela Holt Voith, principal at Voith & Mactavish Architects. "The building is an exemplary illustration of how green design can be contemporary and sophisticated within an established campus vernacular, while a light and open design provides a seamless flow between the interior and exterior spaces.”

The space previously housed a food-service venue, but was reconfigured to include a large workable kitchen and an adjacent open area for the servery and display.

The kitchen, where all of the large equipment is Energy Star certified, also has recycling and composting programs.

The 1,300-square-foot addition features 18-foot-high ceilings, full-height windows and a green roof, along with doors that open to a seating area overlooking Steinhardt Garden and Woodland Walk.

The café’s steel-trellis, limestone-clad columns extend the garden pavilion and provide shade for both the interior space and outdoor rooms for summer dining. The self-contained seating area is used for meetings, study, and social events when the servery is not in operation.

Keeping in mind the original design, an additional 6,500-square-foot space was reworked for a more efficient reprographics center, a vending area and a new office suite with windows facing the west entrance courtyard.

Public restrooms were relocated them from within the cafe to the main corridor for accessibility, and a redesign of the service entry and corridor off the existing loading dock was made separate from the public entrance, which is now ADA accessible.

The school also added a three-story tower adjacent to the south stair that provides upper story offices, a multi-purpose room and conference rooms.

With low-flow sinks and low-power lighting, the facility has reduced its potable water use by almost 50 percent from baseline values, and 42 percent in power reduction from the ASHRAE standard baseline.

During construction, the project recycled 63 percent of its construction waste from landfill dumping. Much of the café’s material content was manufactured using recycled content and locally made, officials from the firm said.

The building materials — adhesives, sealants, paints, coatings, and flooring materials — contain low VOC for healthy indoor air quality, and none of the wood products contained formaldehyde.

“The project also strove to best represent Wharton’s three core values: commitment to innovation, broad expertise and global outreach,” officials said. “An important social space which has improved opportunities for collegiality for the school, the café has already become a destination and a draw to the broader Penn population.”

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Chula Vista High School’s Green Renovation

Students at a Southern California high school start 2011 off with new green-standard facilities, the result of a $644 million school construction bond program. Renovations at Chula Vista High School near San Diego are on target to receive Gold LEED ratings and include a new multi-use creative arts building, a new library, a gymnasium remodel, and locker room upgrades.

Funding for the projects comes from Proposition O, which passed in 2006 and targets the 32 high schools and middle schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District.

“Each of the Prop. O projects, if they are new construction, they have to be at least LEED-Gold,” says Jaime Ortiz, the Prop. O bond manager working with SGI Construction Management. “That was a directive from the board of trustees and the superintendent. It’s a pretty bold statement that the district wanted to make as far as sustainability. And we’ve designed these buildings to be highly efficient in every way. These buildings are highly efficient when it comes to using energy, water, daylight, and irrigation.”

SUHSD is the largest secondary school district in the nation, serving 43,000 middle and high school students and 27,000 adult learners. It is the southernmost district, covering from the Mexico border north to the edge of the city of San Diego, and from the Pacific Ocean east to Chula Vista. SUHSD includes four cities: National City, Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and parts of southern San Diego.

Located in a particularly underserved and economically impoverished neighborhood, CVHS counts a culturally diverse student body comprised of 80 percent Hispanic and 10 percent each of white, Asian and African-American students.

“It’s in a socio-economically challenged part of town, so it is really great to give these children state-of-the-art learning facilities because it sends a message that they are just as important as anybody else,” Ortiz says. “The schools in the rich part of town shouldn’t have any better facilities than the ones in the poorer parts of town.”

The centerpiece of the school’s $20.9 million in improvements is a 25,729-square-foot, multi-purpose creative arts building that features a 680-seat theater, band room, choir room, dance studio and mariachi/orchestra room. An estimated one-third of the CVHS’s 2,900 students enroll in its School for Creative and Performing Arts, further fueling the need for a noteworthy facility.

Other improvements include a new 5,600 square foot, Grecian-style library equipped with computer stations and a study area/work room. Gymnasium upgrades include a new floor, as well as new bleachers, backboards, lights and scoreboard. Additionally, locker rooms were modernized with new flooring, new lockers and a new air conditioning system.

BCA Architects designed the project and Turner Construction was the general contractor. Both were selected through a qualification-based selection process.

“We were looking for companies that could deliver high-quality projects on schedule and on budget, while at the same time helping us achieve our LEED objectives,” Ortiz said. “Turner Construction is one of the largest contractors in the country. They completed many LEED projects before and have a wealth of resources that they could tap into if needed. They really hit the ground running and made this project move really quickly.”

“The architects, BCA, really listened to what the school wanted and then designed this gorgeous building,” Ortiz said. “Their aesthetic sense is really well-defined.”

The design phase typically takes about a year to a year and a half to go through the division of state architects, and then construction took about 18 months, Ortiz explained. Once construction began on the large-scale project, building amidst a fully functioning, 2,900-student high school campus presented its own logistical challenges.

“We were constantly working around the students,” he said. “Safety was at the forefront of everybody’s mind, obviously, and we also worked around testing schedules that the school had.”

Ortiz added that a constant challenge of school projects is to give students the most possible with the funding available, being as efficient as possible with the taxpayer’s money. In this case, designing the project with an ecologically sustainable focus resulted in access to about $300,000 in funding from the state — in the form of high-performance school grants — that would not have been available otherwise.

Going for Gold in Green

Ortiz said that he expects the CVHS projects to earn LEED Gold certification.

“We expect to see about 30 percent less energy usage than traditionally designed theaters and libraries, and we accomplish this through highly efficient light fixtures, solar panels, highly efficient air conditioning systems, a well-insulated building envelope, and light sensors in every room that automatically turn off the lights when the rooms are not in use,” he said. “We also have lots of natural daylight in the room, reducing the need for artificial illumination.”

Water usage is 40 percent less than that of traditionally built buildings of similar size and use, the result of using dual-flush toilets and waterless urinals, in addition to drought tolerant, native species in the landscaping. Low VOC paints, sealants and adhesives were used in construction and the carpet installed is made from recycled materials.

Additionally, 20 percent of all the materials used contained some sort of recycled content and 89 percent of the generated construction waste went to recycling plants rather than landfills.

Incorporating the green enhancements from the project’s inception kept costs in check, said Ortiz.

“I think that if you design the project correctly and efficiently from the start, your green project shouldn’t have any cost premiums over a traditionally built project,” Ortiz said.

“Manufacturers of sustainable construction materials are very competitive today. It’s not like it was four years ago when a green product was so much more expensive. Right now, the entire industry is moving towards sustainability so all the materials are very competitive right now. What you do have to do is make sure that you design it sustainable from the very beginning. The architect and entire design team has to think about things a little bit differently and has to be smart about how they are designing the project and make the project as efficient as possible.”

More Prop. O Funding Ahead

There is still plenty of construction funding slated to come from Prop. O. The scope of work includes upgrading classrooms, restrooms, science labs, libraries and technology, handicap accessibility, asbestos and lead paint removal, and upgrading fire and life safety systems. The first bond sale under the program was $180 million and SUHSD is slightly past the middle of the program’s first phase, which comprises nine large-scale construction projects on nine different campuses. Two of the nine projects have been completed and Ortiz estimates they are about 70 percent through the first phase.

The program originally was scheduled for four phases, Ortiz says. But that could change.

“It depends upon the assessed value of the district and how quickly the district can sell bonds into the financial market, and that depends upon the value of the properties in the district,” he explained. “So it’s kind of a complicated formula to determine when we can get the next pot of money.”

He said that he hopes the design process for Phase Two will begin within the next few months.

Although more projects are slated for Phase Two at CVHS, they are not identified yet. Some of the projects under consideration are potentially a new two-story classroom building and a new cafeteria, but that’s still to be defined by the school, the board, and the superintendent.

“We will go back to the school and review the priority list that they had established prior to us starting the design of the next phase,” Ortiz says.

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$34 Million UON Building Awarded LEED Gold

OMAHA, Neb. — The University of Nebraska at Omaha achieved LEED Gold certification for Mammel Hall, the new home to the College of Business Administration and the first building in the University of Nebraska system to achieve LEED Gold.

The $34 million, 120,000-square-foot building opened in August 2010 after about two years of construction.

The building’s green features include a community-based design, access to public transportation, and daylight in 75 percent of the rooms. The unique plant species used in the outdoor landscape design is expected to reduce water consumed for irrigation by 52 percent. ??

During construction, more than 97 percent of waste was diverted from landfills, and thermographic imaging of the building’s exterior was used to design maximum thermal integrity, low mercury and energy efficient lamps, and storm-water management.

The facility was designed by Omaha-based architectural firm Holland Basham Architects.

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Chatham County Opens New Middle School

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Chatham County School District officially opened its newest school, Margaret B. Pollard Middle School, on January 3. The opening of the new campus allowed the 480 students and 50 faculty and staff members to reunite after being split between two schools while construction was completed.

The school district is actively pursuing LEED Gold certification for Margaret B. Pollard Middle School, which would make it the first LEED Gold certified middle school in the state, according to a release from Chatham County Schools.

The facility also has key “green” features, including large windows for daylighting, solatubes to bring in exterior light, and motion detectors to sense the need for lighting.

The entirely geothermal building has heating and air-conditioning systems using ground-sourced water from 170 wells located 400 feet below the soccer field. Rooms in the school have HVAC units that act as condensing units.

Each classroom includes a SMART Board and a mounted projector to allow lessons to be taught using up-to-date technology. The high school-sized gymnasium is air-conditioned and has bleachers on both sides of the court.

The 120,000 square-foot school sits on a 31-acre development on the edge of the Briar Chapel development in northeastern Chatham County. The new facility features a large “gallery” at the main entrance, leading to a hallway that connects the school’s three classroom wings.

The school serves grades six through eight, and is named for a county native and Commissioner from 1994 -2004 who passed away in Sept. 2009.

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$71 Million Rec Center Opens in Calif.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gazing up at the exterior of the two-story glass façade of the recently completed recreation center at Sacramento State University, architect Burt Miller describes the visual experience of seeing the finished product that his company designed, from the outside looking in.

“On the one hand, it appears like a bank of monitors, each window displaying a different scene with a different student working out in it,” says Miller, a principal and senior vice president at the San Francisco-based Hornberger + Worestell design firm.

“On the other hand, it’s like an ant farm with this transparent layer where all the activity is happening immediately behind it, like people coming and going from the lobby, students dining in the café, groups working out in the exercise studios, etc.” he says.

The bottom line, he says, is that the architects and builders achieved exactly what they were trying for when sketching out designs for The WELL (Wellness, Education, Leisure, Lifestyle), a $71 million, 151,000-square-foot recreational facility at Sac State, that is slated to open its doors in September.

Designers from Hornberger + Worstell, along with Ellerbe Becket of Kansas City, Mo., were aiming for a structure that stood apart from the so-called “warehouses for recreation” that Miller says he and his colleagues witnessed at other California State University campuses.

“On one level, this recreation and wellness center will create a new social nexus for the campus where students, either before, after, or between classes, will have an opportunity gather and workout,” says Miller. “The university also wanted a building that — to use their words — had a ‘Wow!’ factor. They didn’t want to be timid with the structure.”

Historically a commuter-school, it’s been a long-term goal of Sac State to give its students more on-campus activities. Funded by a $50 million CSU system-wide bond and a student fee established in 2004, The WELL is open to students, faculty, staff, and super-alum that paid the fee in past years.

Housing both the recreation department and health services, The WELL replaces several outdated facilities, including the early 1950s-era campus buildings that had previously contained the university’s health department.

Architects designed the building with plenty of transparent walls and a sweeping north face that takes advantage of natural lighting and creates a quad between The WELL and another recently completed structure, the student union building, aptly titled the University Union. On the southwestern end of the rec center are outdoor terraces that overlook Hornet Stadium, the game field for Sac State’s football team. Inside is located the largest climbing wall in the CSU system, an indoor running track, several multipurpose courts and fitness students, racquetball areas, and an attached four-court basketball complex.

The health services department is located at the other end of The WELL, and includes primary and urgent care clinics, a pharmacy and nutrition center, laboratories, imaging services, a preventative health area, and a cooking demonstration room. Peak Adventures, a student outdoor club at Sac State, also has its offices inside the rec center.

Locating the health, recreation departments and the outdoor club in the same facility provided opportunities for collaboration, says Mirjana Gavric, director at The WELL.

“What I find most exciting about this building is the philosophy behind what we’re doing — the integration of health services, the outdoors adventure club, and recreation,” says Gavric. “We’re integrating those three areas in a partnership, and we’re providing a service that’s unique — it’s mind, body, and soul.”

“It’s about students being able to go to the health center and receive a prescription, which might be something like a yoga class or a breathing class in the rec center, or maybe their doctor prescribes an outdoor adventure course,” she says.

Miller added that the close proximity of the recreation and health areas also presented unique design challenges — particularly with regard to designing wellness areas private from those of recreation services.

“On the one hand, the Well has programs and activities that want to reach out and commingle with recreation,” says Miller, “but on the other, [many] people who visit health services are ill and want isolation, or they are there for personal reasons and need some privacy.”

To achieve this environment, wellness areas are located at one end of the building but share meeting spaces and the central lobby with the rec department. Less private areas, like the pharmacy and retail optometrist, are located off of this shared space.

In addition to a building focused on all-things holistic, the facility encourages a healthy environment through its green features. Expected to earn LEED Gold, The WELL incorporates many of the standard sustainable elements found in green buildings, including a high efficiency HVAC system and plenty of daylighting and recycled building materials.

Some of the not-so-common green elements include a lobby floor made of recycled Heineken-bottles and gymnasium paneling created from pressed sunflower seeds. Unique products include a Vector Foiltec skylight system, which features an ETFE film designed to reduce heat gain, and several Big Ass Fans ceiling fans, installed to increase air circulation in The WELL.

The WELL was built by nationwide construction firm McCarthy Building Co. and Tony Moayed Construction Services of Sacramento.

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Aquatic Facility Targets LEED Silver

SAN MATEO, Calif. — An educational building that opens out to a competition swimming pool is not the typical layout a person might expect to find in a high school setting.

But at the private Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif., the academic and aqua pairing is presently under construction as part of a four-phase master plan designed to upgrade the school’s facilities and programs, and to improve its outdoors spaces.

“It is kind of an unusual pairing — usually you don’t want athletics mixed with classrooms,” says Dan Wetherell, principal and director of business development at the Ratcliff architectural firm, in nearby Emeryville. ╥The facilities work well together in space and on paper. The main link between the two is the outdoor spaces. Given the limitations of the site we were able to make it work.╙

The $21 million Center for the Arts and Sciences and Aquatics Facility features a 24,000-square-foot classroom building, and a 38-meter by 25-yard pool. The center’s outdoor promenade links to the school’s drop-off site and parking garage, providing a main entrance to the campus and to the pool for swim competitions. An outdoor courtyard adjacent to the pool and academic building provides space for swim teams and social gatherings, as does a quad next to the center’s art room. Included in Phase One of the project, both are slated for completion by June 2011.

Designed to LEED Silver standards by Ratcliff, and being constructed by Hathaway Dinwiddie of San Francisco, the arts and science building will feature five science lecture laboratories; new facilities for school yearbook, newspaper and film production; and a large art room and new ceramics area. High-tech music and theater spaces include a band rehearsal and choral room, recording studio, and a green room.

When completed, the classroom building will be outfitted to handle smart board technology and wireless computer connectivity stations.

“Part of integrating all this technology allows the teachers to use different instructional pedagogies,” Wetherell says. “What we believe is key in good classroom design is flexibility — not every teacher wants to teach the same way. We tried to make the spaces large enough so teachers can be pretty flexible in them.?

Acoustical design was also important in a building that contains rooms for band rehearsal, science instruction, and painting — all side-by-side, says Wetherell.

Having a large building mass also contributes to the center’s green features, providing for passive solar heat gain ╤ or the ability to store heat within the walls and floors even though the sun isn’t shining. Other sustainable elements include a naturally daylit design and recycled building materials.

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Dual-Use Higher Ed. Facility Earns LEED Gold

ORLANDO, Fla. — The University Center, a joint-use facility shared by Valencia Community College and the University of Central Florida, has earned LEED Gold accreditation, adding feathers in the caps to the sustainability programs at both schools.

Designed by C.T. Hsu + Associates, P.A., of Orlando, the $23 million, three-story University Center located on Valencia‘s West Campus houses 40 classrooms, a testing center, computer labs, faculty offices, and a cafÄ. The 10,000-square-foot structure serves 1,700 students from Valencia CC and UCF.

Valencia CC and UCF have long histories of creating sustainable campuses and encouraging environmentally friendly practices amongst staff and students. Both institutions are pursuing climate-neutral campuses under the American College and University Presidents‘ Climate Commitment.

"Valencia has pledged that all new building construction meet LEED criteria," says Lucy Boudet, Valencia spokeswoman. "On each of our LEED-certified structures, our aim was initially for Silver certification but we qualified for Gold in each case."

The center‘s green features include a storm water management plan that captures and treats 90 percent of the average annual rainfall runoff on site. All non-roof impervious surfaces are paved with highly reflective materials designed to reduce heat island effect.

The center‘s thick thermal envelope, highly insulated glazed windows, and conesrvative HVAC system make the University Center 28 percent more efficient than a conventional campus building, resulting in an estimated annual energy savings of $35,000. Rooftop solar panels supply approximately 10 percent of the facility‘s electricity needs, while plumbing fixtures utilize 75 percent less water than conventional faucets, saving about a half-gallon with each use, according to sources. Outside the building, a drought tolerant landscape cuts down on the drinkable water used in irrigation and natural areas around the building provide homes for local flora and fauna.

The University Center is the third Valencia-owned building to earn LEED status. In 2008, Valencia CC received its first LEED Gold certification for the 80,000-square-foot Allied Health Sciences Building. Designed with teaching spaces for medical and dental students, the Allied Health Sciences Building incorporates an efficient HVAC system valued at $1.9 million. In 2009, Valencia CC achieved LEED Gold certification for it‘s Special Events Center, a 17,000-square-foot building situated on the West Campus and used for special events and receptions.

UCF received its first LEED Gold rating in December 2009 for its Physical Sciences I building. The school‘s College of Medicine on the Health Sciences Campus also earned LEED Silver last year. UCF buildings currently pursuing LEED certification include the school‘s Recreation and Wellness Center, the Burnett School of Biomedical Science, and the nearly completed Public Safety Building.

UCF has committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 42 percent by 2030 and increase recycling rates 75 percent by 2020, compared to 2010 levels.

PPI Construction Management of Gainesville, Fla., built the University Center with 33 percent recycled materials. During construction, 95 percent of waste, or 600,000 pounds, was diverted from landfills.

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St. Louis University Completes Major Projects

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — After nearly two years, workers from St. Louis-based general contractor, Clayco Inc., wrapped up construction on the Stephen F. & Camilla T. Brauer Hall, a LEED Gold-certified engineering facility at Washington University in St. Louis.

Two-thirds of Brauer Hall is dedicated to research laboratories. The 150,875-square-foot, four-story structure houses 27 labs. The facility will serve as a home for the School of Engineering’s Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering and provide space for the International Center for Advanced Renewable Energy and Sustainability.

To achieve LEED certifications, international architectural firm RMJM designed a high albedo roof to reflect heat, low-flow fixtures that reduce water consumption by 30 percent, and a storm water recycling system that utilizes runoff for on-site landscape irrigation. Approximately 75 percent of non-hazardous construction waste was recycled during the building process. A high-efficiency air-handling system that incorporates air-to-air recovery produces energy savings of more than 30 percent at the hall.

The university’s School of Medicine also recently dedicated the BJC Institute of Health, a $235 million, 680,000-square-foot research building that houses laboratories and support facilities. The 11-story structure is Washington University’s largest building.

The Institute, which features a pollution prevention plan, water-efficient landscaping, an energy performance protocol, and recycled and local building materials, is currently seeking a LEED Gold rating.

Inside the BJC Institute, BioMed 21, a collaborative interdisciplinary research center, will use the building’s laboratories. The School of Medicine’s Division of Pediatric Surgery and Department of Pathology and Immunology will also occupy the building.

International architecture firm Cannon Design designed the building and S.M. Wilson & Co. of St. Louis served as the general contractor.

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Desert Library Awarded LEED Gold

Images courtesy of PPG Industries.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The first thing that a visitor might notice when stopping by the recently completed $10.6 million Appaloosa Branch Library in Scottsdale is that the building’s exterior seems to shift colors, blending with the surrounding Sonoran Desert landscape.

The 21,200-square-foot library, which qualifies for a LEED Gold rating, also uses far less energy than comparably sized buildings and is the first building ever constructed with Duranar VARI-Cool iridescent coatings by PPG Industries of Pittsburgh.

The facility, which has a reported collection of nearly 80,000 books, CDs, and DVDs, is made of recycled and Low-VOC materials and uses photovoltaic cells to produce energy.

Additionally, the Duranar VARI-Cool coatings contain pearlescent pigments that reflect the sun’s energy using ULTRA-Cool infrared-reflective coatings technology designed by PPG. Besides helping buildings stay cooler, the coatings change color according to viewing angle and how light refracts across their surface, according to PPG.

For the Appaloosa Branch Library, VARI-Cool offers the appearance of the coating changes from dark green to silver to mauve. In a static state, the coating projects a light gray-green tint that matches plants, sand and the surrounding desert landscape.

PPG expects that with the Duranar VARI-Cool coatings that the building will use an estimated 32 percent less energy than a comparably sized library.

Completed in November of last year, the library was designed for the City of Scottsdale by DWL Architects + Planners of Phoenix and Douglas Sydnor Architect and Associates of Scottsdale.

Duranar VARI-Cool coatings are available in 17 pre-formulated standard tints. Visit www.ppgideascapes.com to learn more.

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Green Science: LEED Gold Research Facilities

RICHLAND, Wash. — Two new additions to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Richland campus earned LEED Gold certification from the USGBC.

Unique in that they are among the few LEED-certified laboratories, the PNNL facilities are estimated to achieve a 77 percent efficiency of net-to-gross square footage versus typical laboratories that are generally designed for 50 percent efficiency.

PNNL’s Biological Sciences Facility and its Computational Sciences Facility, which are connected by a glass atrium and commons areas, cost $77 million to finance and build. Approximately 300 PNNL employees began working in the combined 150,000-square-foot buildings when they opened last fall.

In constructing the BSF and CSF, general contractor D.E. Harvey Builders of Houston diverted 78 percent of waste from landfills. KMD Architects of San Francisco designed the labs to reduce energy and water use by 30 to 35 percent compared to similar-sized buildings. The facilities use waste heat produced by computer servers in the CSF to warm offices and labs. Low-flow and motion sensor-activated water fixtures cut water usage.

To meet the research needs of PNNL scientists, each facility is equipped with cutting-edge technology.

The CSF is home to the Center for Adaptive Supercomputing Software and a 10,000-square-foot raised computer floor space that allows researchers to develop next-generation high-performance computing tools. The two buildings support research for the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Institutes of Health and other organizations.

"These buildings represent the future of the laboratory – providing us advanced equipment and tools needed to have an even greater impact," says PNNL director Mike Kluse. "We have some great scientists, and these facilities will provide them the equipment and tools they need to advance science and deliver science-based solutions."

New York,-based real estate developer Cowperwood Company owns the buildings, leasing them to PNNL’s management company Battelle.

Also in development at PNNL’s Richland campus is a $224 million, 200,000-square-foot Physical Sciences Facility slated for completion this year. When completed, the PSF will house about 450 staffers working in the radiation detection, materials science and technology and ultra-trace fields of research.

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