University Building’s Passive Design Earns LEED Silver Certification

KENNESAW, Ga. — The passive design concepts at Kennesaw State University’s new social science building help the facility earn LEED Silver certification for its passive design.
The design of the 164,000-square-foot building features window placement that avoids direct light, building materials with recycled content and strategy orientation of the facility.

Most of the green aspects of the building were based on an intuitive, efficient design, says Bill Clark, a principal for Stevenson & Wilkinson Stang & Newdow, Inc., the design firm for the project.

“We did not have any active systems like solar but it was a very good common sense approach to designing a facility,” Clark says.

The facility features more than 40 classrooms and office space for the communications, history and philosophy, political science and international affairs, psychology, and sociology departments. An auditorium with 300 seats, a 110-seat film classroom and an indoor student plaza with access to an exterior covered porch were also included in the plans.

Major components of the project include an Energy Star-rated roof and systems that minimize potable water use. Indigenous plants were utilized in the design of the facility, which allowed the team to eliminate the use of irrigation systems as well, Clark says.

However, technology was applied to the cooling tower.

“As opposed to adding chemical treatment, we used a specialized system of pulse technology which uses a pulse of electricity to clean the contaminants from the cooling tower water,” he says.

The social science building has more than 40 classroom and office space for several departments.

Working with a limited budget and the desire to earn LEED certification, Clark says the basic design was imperative. Design for the facility included minimizing glass on the east and west sides of the building.

Building materials with recycled content were used wherever possible. Brick and veneer were used for the outside of the building while fiberglass was used to insulate the walls. Low-VOC paints and materials were used in the design, and the structure was “allowed to breathe” before being sealed, Clark says.

LEED credits were also awarded to the university for using green cleaning products and incorporating a green educational component.

The educational component includes a display describing how each LEED point was earned and what the benefits are to the facility.

“We created a wall display that describes each point that we are achieving in LEED and it will be displayed physically with a presentation on one of the featured walls in the lobby,” he says.

Research centers of about 1,100 square feet were incorporated in the design to accommodate various long-term research projects that tend to last between 18 and 36 months. Student study areas on the north and south sides of the building where circulation space would have otherwise been located.

Furniture in the building is modular to allow students to rearrange the room as needed for group projects and discussions. Most of the classrooms in the facility feature wireless technology.