Design is now near completion for a new science facility for Colby College, with plans to break ground later this year.

The 36,400 square foot building on the Waterville, Maine, campus, will be home to the departments of computer science, mathematics and statistics, and psychology, with teaching and research space that will include robotics and psychology labs, seminar rooms, and classrooms.

In keeping with its commitment to the environment, Colby will pursue LEED Silver certification on the new building. It is scheduled for completion in 2014.

The science building is part of the implementation of Colby’s ...[more]

Last week’s publication of the 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC) marks a major milestone in sustainable design, construction, and operations, as we shift from an incentive-based approach toward a regulatory one.

While current building codes were developed to protect life and safety of present building occupants, the IgCC expands its purview to protect the environment on behalf of the wider community, both present and future.  This new overlay code builds on current systems of voluntary design guidelines and goals, moving toward mandatory adherence to principles of sustainable ...[more]

Creating an environment that promotes healing complements the development and practice of treatments that heal. That was the thinking behind the design of Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale-New Haven Hospital, which has received an Award of Merit in the Connecticut Green Building Council’s (CTGBC) 2011 Green Building Design Awards. Norman Roth, Yale-New Haven’s Senior Vice President of Administration, accepted the award at the June 21 ceremony in New Haven.

The hospital was designed by Shepley Bulfinch and landscape architects Towers|Golde, and built by Turner Construction.

Eight years in the making, the 516,000 square foot cancer hospital ...[more]

As the work of the academic year wrapped up in May at Colorado College, another sort of work began, with the summer renovation of Rastall Hall, Benji’s Café, and Colorado Café in the Worner Center.

Students arriving on campus in the fall will find the Worner Center’s dining facilities transformed into a bright and welcoming space. In keeping with the College’s commitment to sustainability, the project includes a number of sustainable features which will be an important part of the College’s pursuit of LEED-EB (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design – Existing ...[more]

Austin College president Marjorie Hass welcomed trustees, distinguished alumni, and other guests at a June 3 groundbreaking ceremony for the IDEA Center, the Sherman, Texas, college’s new science and technology complex.

Twelve years in the planning, the 103,000 s.f. Center will emphasize breaking down boundaries between disciplines, housing the departments of physics, chemistry, biology, environmental studies, math, and computer science in one facility. A centerpiece of the new academic building is a domed observatory, with a 24” telescope that will be among the best among the country’s liberal arts institutions.

The IDEA ...[more]