Submitted by: Cameron Smith, Project Engineer, LEED AP

With future energy costs still uncertain, finding innovative ways of saving money and resources has become increasingly important for colleges and universities. Shiel Sexton, which has worked on the campuses of colleges and universities for many years, is helping to lead the way in developing Green buildings that are becoming the standard on college campuses. Recently, Shiel Sexton has been involved with three major Green building or renovation projects on three college campuses.

The newly completed College of Pharmacy and Health Science Building addition at Butler University won an Indianapolis Sustainability Award for Energy and has applied for LEED-Gold certification, which is currently under review by the U.S. Green Building Council. Elsewhere, University of Notre Dame's Geddes Hall and Ball State University's DeHority Residence Complex both recently received certifications. Geddes Hall, a 64,000 sf. facility houses the University's prestigious Center for Social Concern and Institute for Church Life, received a LEED Gold Certification. The DeHority Residence Complex, a 131,000 sf. project which included renovations to the complex, creating more beds for students, received a Silver Certification.

Please see the links below for pictures and articles on the above mentioned projects:

Butler: Pharmacy and Health Science
BSU DeHority: Video
Geddes Hall Photos: Photos

Labels: Ball State University, Butler University, Cameron Smith, Indianapolis Sustainability Award, LEED certification, University of Notre Dame, USGBC

Submitted By: Stephen Oesterreich, Project Coordinator, LEED AP



On Friday January 8, 2009 we learned that the Gene Glick Family Support Center was awarded LEED Gold Certification for its new facility, located at 16th and Martin Luther King Drive in Indianapolis. During the early planning stages, the Glick Center's owner, The Children's Bureau, decided to make this a green building and pursue USGBC certification. Originally the team decided that the project would contend for LEED certification, but during the construction process, the team determined that a LEED Gold certification was not only achievable but would be the best option for the Center. Pushing toward that goal, Shiel Sexton incorporated a variety of green driven products and techniques working with the architect to pursue additional design credits.

The team earned special credits for the use of waste diversion systems, regional materials, and recycled materials. Some of the special features of the building include bike storage, showers, and a white roof. Other resource and energy saving systems include Daikin mechanical system that provide energy savings of 24% and low-flow lavatory and dual flush toilets that reduce water use by 32.8%. During construction, 93.6% of all waste was diverted from the landfill and 21.4% of materials used in construction were comprised of recycled waste. The combination of these environmentally minded additions and spirit of collaboration allowed this project to achieve a Gold LEED certification.

Labels: Children's Bureau, Daikin mechanical system, Gene Glick Family Support Center, LEED certification, Stephen Oesterreich, USGBC

Indianapolis-- While Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Inc.has greened countless corners of the city, it's what the organization has done to its own space that has earned it an environmental honor of the highest kind.

A year after moving into its new headquarters in Fountain Square, KIB became the first civic nonprofit in the state to be awarded gold-level certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, by the U.S. Green Building Council.

"In the work that KIB does, we aim to make an aesthetic, human and environmental impact. Choosing green design for our new office was an incredible way for KIB to embody its mission," said the organization's president, David Forsell.

Once a contaminated property and abandoned warehouse at the corner of Fletcher Avenue and Shelby

Street, architects overhauled the building with an energy-efficient design in mind, weighing environmental and economic options in hopes of earning the coveted certification.

The Outside

The green theme begins in the parking lot which, besides its bike racks and reserved spots for high efficiency vehicles, might look like any other black slab in the city.

But the asphalt lookalike known as pervious pavement actually allows water to filter through it, helping to feed two nearby rain gardens teaming with native plant species.

The gardens, along with a 10,000-gallon cistern next to the building, keep 42 percent of the site's rainwater out of the city's fragile combined sewer system, according to KIB.

While it was determined that the top of the building couldn't support the growing qualities of a green roof, it is painted white in an effort to reflect the sun's rays, cutting the building's energy use by 12.5 percent.

The outdoor landscape also includes two windmills that are as much pieces of art as they are vessels to create power and awareness about alternative energy sources.

The Inside

Once inside, the 7,000-square foot office space flows around a central atrium designed to bring light into the conference rooms, cubicles and offices that border it. "The atrium wasn't something that was necessarily done for the LEED certification, as much as it's really a quality of life thing," said KIB Vice President of Public Relations and Development Linda Broadfoot. "We've done as much as we can to get natural light in the building." To that end, there aren't many solid doors or walls in the space, with offices closed off in glass and cubicle dividers made from repurposed metal mesh.

Where there are lights, Broadfoot said most are turned to low power when they're on at all, and in individual spaces, like offices and bathrooms, sensors are used to cut energy costs.

Conservation is also key in the bathrooms, where waterless urinals trim consumption by 7,000 gallons or more annually.

Underfoot, carpet squares made from recycled materials line the lobby, while much of the rest of the spaceis accented by original cement floors, polished to an urban chic shine.

KIB's trailers, trucks and supplies are kept in an adjoining warehouse on one side of the building, while6,500-square-feet to accommodate another tenant lines the other. For the organization's dozen or so fulltime employees, the atmosphere mirrors KIB's mission, green and otherwise.

"We don't belong in an office building on Meridian Street, that's not who we are. We're grassroots," Broadfoot said. "We think we're fun, we think we're pretty hip, so we wanted to be in a space that reflected that and that fit into the urban community that we're in."

Public tours are offered of the space at 4 p.m. on the first Monday of each month.

The building is one of more than two dozen LEED-certified projects in the state, and one of six inIndianapolis.

Reported by TheIndyChannel.com

Labels: David Forsell, Green Building, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, LEED certification, Shiel Sexton, USGBC