Interior Design News
To send Sustainable Facilities Management news to The McMorrow Sustainable Facilities Management Report,
please e-mail: sustainablefm@mcmorrowreport.com
College taps into multiple alternative energy sources
SAN FRANCISCO—City College of San Francisco’s academic facility features Photovoltaic solar, a geothermal heating and cooling system, a green roof, and even an innovative passive cooling system.
The 110,000-sq.ft., three-story building uses a louvered central atrium and skylight system–driven by wind power–takes advantage of natural ventilation by allowing airflow from the perimeter classrooms to be exhausted through the glazed skylights at the roof level. This maximizes air circulation (a key component of a healthy indoor environment) as well as passive cooling in the summer months.
[ page top ]
University building earns LEED gold
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL—The University of Minnesota’s Science Teaching and Student Services Building (STSS) has received the LEED Gold certification.
The building features installation of low-flow sinks and bathroom fixtures that use 50% less water than a typical building of its size and an underfloor air distribution system allows fresh air to move into the building while pushing stale air to the ceiling, which is collected in air ducts and circulated outside.
[ page top ]
Harvard dorm gains LEED credentials
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Harvard University’s Thayer Hall, undergraduate dormitories, have achieved LEED-EB credentials.
Jay Phillips, FAS Senior Director of Operations called the effort “a valuable exercise.” “We have learned a lot from the experience, and we realized that many of our regular operational practices were already aligned with LEED guidelines.”
[ page top ]
Blue and gold go green and gold
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Navy and Marine Corps will aim for LEED Gold certification for all its new buildings beginning in 2013.
By fiscal 2013 the navy will require every new building to earn LEED certification without increasing the department's budget. "It shouldn't cost any more, particularly in this economic environment, to build buildings that are sustainable," Mabus said. "But it's going to require some creative contracting, some creative building and construction practices."
[ page top ]
Young designers develop net zero energy solutions
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Architects and engineers from HOK/Vanderweil showcased their creativity and sustainable design expertise with a winning net zero building retrofit design in Metropolis magazine’s Next Generation® Design Competition 2011.
Young designers were challenged to develop net zero energy solutions for a 46-year-old federal office building in downtown Los Angeles. In alignment with President Barack Obama’s mandate that federal agencies lower their greenhouse gas emissions, the building’s owner, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), has a goal of reducing building emissions 30% by 2020.
[ page top ] |
