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Seminar II
New Classroom Building at The Evergreen
State College Seeks Gold LEED Rating
by Sheila Bacon
For an institution with the word "green" in its
name, it is only fitting that The Evergreen State College
is going for gold with its new classroom building.
The Olympia, Wash., college is seeking Gold-level Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for
the new 160,000-sq.-ft., $31.5 million Seminar II building.
Designed by Mahlum Architects (Seattle) and built by DPR Construction
(Redwood City, Calif.), the project is one of just a handful
of such projects in the country pursuing the ambitious rating
goal from the U.S. Green Building Council.
The college, known for is eco-friendly student body and progressive
liberal arts focus, will see the completion of the classroom
structure in early spring. Seminar II features eight buildings,
all connected with skybridges. Five of the buildings are identical,
said Ken Schmidt, DPR project engineer, and include classrooms,
lecture halls and workshop areas that supports The Evergreen
College's style of learning - an interdisciplinary approach
that uses team teaching. The other three buildings offer cafes,
public spaces and mechanical areas.
The smooth-faced architectural concrete structure resembles
the other existing buildings on campus with concrete exteriors.
Inside, however, the new complex incorporates the latest in
"green," including recycled and locally produced
materials, minimal finishes such as paint, carpet or sheetrock,
and building products low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Each cluster will have a natural ventilation "chimney"
and daylighting "tube" to maximize access to air
and light. Although the lower floors in each cluster will
be cooled mechanically, chimneys will connect the second and
third floors with a damper and louvers on the fourth floor.
All windows exposed to sunshine will be equipped with shading
devices, and all naturally ventilated spaces will include
"trickle vents" to allow for winter ventilation.
The result: a builkding nearly 80 percent naturally ventilated,
saving 40 percent in annual energy costs over a conventional
building designed to the state energy code.
Nearly 40 percent of the roof surfaces have garden roofs
that allow plant material to reduce storm water by evapotranspiration
(the transfer of moisture by evaporation of water and transpiration
of plants).
Carpeting is of recycled materials and affixed with a special
factory-applied adhesive rather than toxic glues. The building
also uses flooring made of recycled wood and plywood veneers.
Designing and building a structure that employs the use of
so many "green" materials - many of which are new
to the market - would be challenging to any team not educated
in the sustainable building arena.
While the Seminar II building was Mahlum Architects' first
project seeking a LEED rating, the firm makes sustainable
design a habit. The challenge of following a defined set of
criteria from the USGBC was increased by the green requirements
set forth by the college itself - many of which went above
and beyond those required by the LEED program.
"We had to do a ton of research on materials,"
said Benjamin Doty, project architect. "It ended up helping
the firm as a whole, because we created a substantial library
of products we can go to again and again."
The design team was challenged to use locally produced materials
on the job - a requirement set forth by LEED and the college.
Shortly after suppliers were retained, the events of Sept.
11, 2001, threw the industry and the economy into turmoil,
and the governor halted all state spending for several months.
By the time things got back on track, many of the companies
that had been secured to supply green products had gone out
of business. Specialty contractors rallied to the cause, said
Doty, helping designers locate suppliers of particular products
to complete the work.
On the building side, DPR is highly educated in the green
arena, with 43 LEED professionals on staff nationwide, said
Schmidt. The challenge came in the education of the subcontractors
working on the job. When the job started two years ago, Schmidt
said many of the subcontractors were unaware of green building
methods or products. As the project has progressed, the fast-growing
green building industry and its popularity in both the public
and private arena has made education easier.
"We tell our subs, 'You better figure this stuff out,
because everything's going green,'" said Schmidt.
Challenges surface when craftspeople are unfamiliar with
eco-friendly products that behave differently than traditional
products in application, said Schmidt. For example, low VOC
products, such as calks and glues, don't stick as well as
more commonly used products higher in VOCs, and they often
require warmer temperatures in order to work effectively.
This may slow down the construction process if the workers
don't know how the new products are going to behave. Another
example is concrete that uses a higher-than-usual amount of
flyash - a recycled product common in concrete projects seeking
LEED ratings. Flyash slows the curing process, said Schmidt,
and if the general or concrete subcontractor is unaware of
this, the schedule may be impacted.
Schmidt said the job has been largely unaffected by the recent
closures of DPR's branch offices in Seattle and Portland,
Ore. The Seminar II jobsite is essentially self-contained,
said Schmidt, and didn't rely much on those offices. With
the help of technology, it's not difficult to manage the job
from DPR's Redwood City offices.
Project Team:
Owner: The Evergreen State
College
General Contractor: DPR
Architect: Mahlum Architects
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