The Brody Learning Commons at Johns Hopkins University, which has been packed since its doors opened last August, has something big to celebrate this week: LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council. It’s the first new construction on the school’s Homewood campus to earn this distinction.

The Learning Commons’ sustainable strategies include:

Managing solar gain: Heat gain and loss from the glass curtain wall system was combated by high-performance glass, automated interior shades, and perimeter (hydronic) heating and cooling.
Energy efficiency: While the under-floor air distribution system ...[more]

LEED certification for the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Specialty Center-Detroit sends a powerful message: helping children grow up healthy starts with a healthy environment. The Center, which was completed in 2012, is the first LEED-certified project on the hospital’s urban campus.

“We are very pleased to offer our patients and families and staff this facility built just for them,” says Herman Gray, MD, president, DMC Children’s Hospital of Michigan. “Knowing that the building is also LEED certified supports our mission to continually work to improve the ...[more]

Saint-Gobain’s expanded research development facility in Northborough, Massachusetts, has received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.  Sustainable project highlights include a heat recovery wheel and a pressurized raised-floor system that promotes equal distribution of tempered air in the building.

The facility, which is part of Saint-Gobain’s Massachusetts research campus, was completed in 2009. The project makes ample use of building products from Saint-Gobain and its CertainTeed and ADFORS subsidiaries, from glass and roofing to adhesives, wallboard, and insulation. A.J. Martini of Winchester, Massachusetts, was the project’s construction manager.

Shepley’s other recent ...[more]

The University of New Mexico’s Science and Math Learning Center in Albuquerque has received LEEDGold certification from the US Green Building Council.

The LEED® for Schools™ rating system under which it was certified addresses core learning areas and requires higher performance standards for air quality, acoustics, daylighting, and thermal comfort than other LEED programs. 

The project deploys a wide range of sustainable design strategies and techniques that focus on enhancing the learning environment and fulfills the University’s commitment to establishing a green footprint.

The Science and Math Learning ...[more]

The US Green Building Council has awarded LEED® certification to Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven in recognition of the hospital’s successful sustainable design and construction strategies. The 516,000 square foot hospital is located in downtown New Haven.

When planning for Smilow began in 2002, sustainable strategies, including LEED certification, were not widely considered attainable in healthcare, given their high energy demands and other perceived constraints. The project team rose to the challenge of making Smilow a sustainable trendsetter. New opportunities for LEED points were sought and identified by ...[more]

Eckstein Hall, the new home to Marquette University’s Law School, has received LEED Silver certification from the US Green Building Council just months after the building’s completion.

Marquette and the project team were committed to constructing an energy-efficient building and receiving LEED certification.

“As we began the process of designing Eckstein Hall, our first priority was to build a facility that would enable us to provide an exceptional legal education,” said Joseph D. Kearney, dean of the Law School. “But as we began talking to alumni, students, and others, it ...[more]

The Lovett School’s Portman Middle School in Atlanta has received LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council in recognition of the school’s highly sustainable design and construction.

The project’s highly sustainable attributes include a green roof, which features an outdoor classroom and demonstration garden for water harvesting; a water collection and recycling program; the use of rapidly renewable materials; the recycling of construction waste; and a “Building Dashboard.” In addition to its LEED Gold certification, the project has earned an Energy Star rating from the US Environmental Protection Agency and ...[more]