Berea College Residence Hall Gains LEED Platinum

BEREA, Ky. — Berea College’s Deep Green Residence Hall has achieved the highest LEED rating and LEED score of any residence hall in the world. With 90 points, the Deep Green Residence Hall achieved LEED Platinum certification and a new sustainable distinction.

“This is an extraordinary achievement,” said Richard Dodd, Berea College capital projects manager, in a statement. “Through collaborative efforts we found synergies and cost efficiencies that allowed us to earn the additional five points for the highest LEED score for a residence hall.”

The $15.8 million residence hall is the third LEED-certified building for the college.
Sustainable features at the Deep Green Residence Hall include a 50 kW solar panel array that produces 14 percent of the building’s annual energy usage; a closed-loop geothermal system for heating and cooling needs; increased insulation, a heat-reflective roof and high-efficiency windows to help retain cool air during summer and heat during winter; operable windows and ceiling fans in all occupied spaces; daylighting, Energy Star appliances, high-efficiency lighting and energy management controls throughout the building to reduce electrical demand; and rain gardens with native vegetation and permeable pavements.

Additionally, a building dashboard creates visible awareness of the buildings ecological footprint through the tracking energy consumption. In total, the green features of the building result in 55 percent savings in annual energy costs.

“We built Deep Green as the world’s highest-scoring residence hall because ecological sustainability is more than just a trend for Berea,” said Derrick Singleton, vice president for operations and sustainability, in a statement. “Sustainability is at the heart of our mission to ‘plain living’ as stated in our Great Commitments. We are committed to living more softly on the land and teaching others to do the same.”

The building was designed by Hastings & Chivetta, and Hellmuth + Bicknese served as the sustainability consultant on the project. Both firms are based in St Louis. Construction was led by Messer Construction Co., which holds offices in Lexington, Ky. The university hopes to continue this level of sustainable commitment in future projects.

“This project’s level of success is undeniably attributable to our campus culture, our supporters and the community surrounding us,” Dodd said. “We’re now taking the lessons learned and applying them to our current and future campus projects.”