June 2008
Electronically Controlled Window Tinting Helps Schools Earn LEED Certification
ELK RIVER, Minn. — Twin Lakes Elementary School in the Elk River Area School District installed SageGlass’ Electrochromics, a glass tint that is electronically controlled, to help it earn LEED Silver certification.
$94 Million UCSF Building Aims for LEED Silver
SAN FRANCISCO — Construction of a new $94.5 million Institute for Regeneration Medicine Building at University of California, San Francisco, is scheduled to begin this summer.
The 73,000-square-foot building will house the university’s regeneration program and offer space for collaboration among scientific and medical researchers.
Rafael Vinoly Architects designed the building to fit along a narrow hillside between a surface street and UCSF Medical Center. The building will be terraced and will follow the arc of the hillside.
New Facilities to Help Stanford Students Study Green Technologies
STANFORD, Calif. — A sustainable building at Stanford University will do more than lower energy costs: the facility will serve as a hub for researching sustainable building technologies and practices.
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.
Community Ties
Green Schools Offer New Lessons
In the new age of green buildings, input from school officials, parents and the community is crucial to ensure that a new facility is designed with components that are the most beneficial to the people it serves. Environmentally friendly bells and whistles are rendered irrelevant and sometimes become costly add-ons if they are not understood, accepted and harnessed by the community.