A new $63 million building at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota has earned platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The 200,000-square-foot facility is the largest and most complex academic facility in the nation to earn the prestigious platinum rating.
LEED measures strategies for sustainable site development including water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. St. Olaf’s Regents Hall features a green roof, daylighting, and the minimization of chemical and biological waste.
The building opened in fall 2008 and has become an invaluable teaching tool for St. Olaf students pursuing studies in the natural sciences or mathematics.
Highlights of Regents Hall’s sustainable features include:
- Compared to a building of its size that only meets code, Regents Hall saves enough energy each year to power some 250 homes annually.
- It is the first science facility–anywhere–designed to incorporate a green chemistry curriculum that uses water-based reactions to decrease lab waste and the need for conditioned air.
- Stormwater that runs off Regents Hall (already reduced by the water absorbed by the green roof) and the surrounding area is filtered through a series of ponds before reentering the aquifer.
- All wood and related forest products inside Regents Hall are free of formaldehyde and other volatile organic compounds, reducing total off-gassing and promoting cleaner indoor air. In addition, all wood used in the building was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Furniture in the building even includes tables and benches handcrafted from lumber harvested from the construction site.
- Lighting and temperature control systems are programmed to power down when spaces are not in use.
- Large glazed areas use fritted glass to allow daylight and views while cutting down unwanted solar heat gain, and call for less artificial lighting than would otherwise be needed.
- The many sustainable and easily maintainable materials used include long-life limestone (some of which was recycled from the building that previously occupied the site), recycled carpet and long-life linseed-based linoleum inside.
Source: St. Olaf College News
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