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February 22, 2008, 07:43 AM ET
U. of Vermont Earns LEED Gold for Big New Student Center
A curved stairway dominates the atrium of the Davis Student Center.
The University of Vermont’s big new Dudley H. Davis Student Center has earned gold-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. A university news release says the building is the first campus center in the U.S. to achieve a gold rating.
The four-level building, designed by WTW Architects and Truex Cullins & Partners Architects, was constructed with a number of sustainable features. Among them:
Energy consumption is kept down by high-performance insulation, high-tech mechanical systems, abundant natural light, and the use of sensors to control electric light and air conditioning. The building is expected to use 52 percent less electricity than a conventional building of the same size.
Water use is also kept low, partly because the building relies on waterless urinals and partly because the landscaping was designed so that it does not require irrigation.
Local materials were used in construction whenever possible, even when they cost slightly more than materials purchased farther away. In addition, 92 percent of the project’s construction waste was recycled.
In addition to standard LEED credits, the building won four design-innovation points, including one for a system of monitors that will display information about the building’s energy consumption, and one for a system that would, in the event of a fire, open vents in the building’s atrium to draw smoke out naturally.
Burlington’s Main Street runs alongside of the Davis Center. (Chronicle photographs by Lawrence Biemiller)
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