College campuses across the country are taking strides toward sustainability in their efforts to be environmentally, socially and fiscally sound. Committed to building a sustainable future, Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y., developed a comprehensive sustainability initiative, linking environmentally responsible practices to all campus endeavors including academic programming, quality of campus life, technology and facilities. A significant physical outcome of this sustainability initiative is the ground breaking of its second LEED Platinum registered building in two years.

The 60,000-square-foot Gateway Building, which will house the college’s admission and administrative offices, was designed by HOLT Architects, P.C., and is scheduled for occupancy in fall 2008.

The Gateway Building is the first stop for new and returning students. It is located adjacent to the main entry to the campus and provides prospective students with a first impression of Ithaca College. The Gateway Building is designed to greet visitors with views of Cayuga Lake, the signature of the campus, and to illustrate that sustainability is a central principle in the life of the college.

“It is our goal to become one of the nation’s leading proponents of sustainability, to practice what we preach, and to produce leaders in many fields who will find solutions for meeting the needs of their generation without shortchanging future generations,” says Ithaca College President, Peggy R. Williams. “Enlightened corporations realize that if they hope to remain competitive they must use natural resources wisely, be responsive to the concerns of the public, and serve as good stewards of the environment.”

The Gateway Building, when complete, will become a physical expression of this vision.

Through the design process, the project grew into LEED Platinum. The college set out targeting Gold certification. As lifecycle benefits and environmental quality opportunities presented themselves, it made sense to pursue them. The college and design team began to realize the opportunities available through a more integrated design process.

“We made some big moves at the beginning of the project that really paid off when we started tallying LEED credits,” noted project architect, Anton Christiansen, AIA, LEED AP. “We remained flexible with the design and continually manipulated the building’s form and fabric to accommodate sustainable priorities and meet and exceed the project goals.”

Rainwater

The roof overhang shades the building from the south summer sun and folds to the ground to receive the bridge making a gesture towards the signature view of Cayuga Lake.

The primary design gestures of the Gateway Building relate to controlling and collecting rain, sun, wind and views. In conceptualizing the building, HOLT envisioned a malleable “fabric” draped over the functional program spaces. This fabric was stretched out to shade the windows on the south side, pulled down to the ground to block the intense western sun, lifted up to reveal the campus’s signature views, and pushed up at the roof edge to catch the rain water. More than 15,000 square feet of roof area is channeled into a 12,000-gallon tank that is located below a shade garden on the north side of the building. The water is pumped though a graywater distribution system to the flush fixtures and hose bibs and will service more than two-thirds of the building’s annual water needs, saving money while also contributing to the protection of a key natural resource.

More than 6,000 square feet of vegetated roof absorb much of the rainwater that is not collected, releasing it back into the atmosphere. In conjunction with the porous pavement and native site planting, there is no net increase in the quantity or rate of rainwater runoff compared to the pre-construction site conditions.

Optimize Energy Performance / Carbon Neutral

Through energy modeling, many envelope variables and mechanical system strategies were tested. Initial costs were compared to performance and lifecycle data indicating, late in design development, that a geothermal distributed heat-pump system would be the most effective solution for this project in this climate. Taking advantage of latent energy stored in the earth, the building is designed to realize an energy savings of 34 percent when compared with standard, code-compliant construction. This will yield an anticipated cost savings of more than $35,000 each year. With the purchase of green power by the college, the building will be carbon-neutral, and the carbon footprint actually becomes negative when you take into account its 6,000 square feet of vegetated roof.

A distributed heat-pump system allows the building to redistribute heating and cooling from one space to another before requesting additional energy from the earth.

Using the principle of stack effect, natural convection ventilation pre-cools the atrium at the start of each day by drawing cooler night air across a shade garden on the north side of the building, and up the terraced garden stair before relieving it out the light monitor three stories higher. This atrium space is the point of arrival for all visitors. It reveals itself on the exterior as a large fin that serves to relieve hot air and also catch natural light and reflect it into the building.

Daylight and Views

Natural ventilation, daylight and views at atrium.

The relatively narrow depth of the building and the strategic use of interior and exterior high-performance glazing allows maximum dispersion of natural light deep into the core spaces while minimizing heat gain. Daylight harvesting with automatic photocell controls and dimming ballasts replace artificial light with natural light when available.

Interior walls that run parallel to the shell are designed with clerestory glass above seven feet, providing acoustical and visual privacy for the exterior offices while affording the experience of variegated natural light to the interior.

ITHACA COLLEGE GATEWAY BUILDING

LOCATION: ITHACA COLLEGE, ITHACA, N.Y.
SIZE: 57,500 SQUARE FEET
COST: $18,000,000
SCHEDULED FOR OCCUPANCY: JULY 2008
AWARDS: 2007 AIA SOUTHERN TIER NY ‘AWARD OF MERIT’ – UN-BUILT CATEGORY
LEED: PLATINUM REGISTERED

PROJECT TEAM
OWNER: ITHACA COLLEGE
CONTRACTOR: CHRISTA CONSTRUCTION
ARCHITECT: HOLT ARCHITECTS
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT: TROWBRIDGE & WOLF
MEP ENGINEER: DELTA ENGINEERS
GEOTHERMAL ENGINEERING: EARTH SENSITIVE SOLUTIONS
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: RYAN-BIGGS ASSOCIATES
CIVIL ENGINEER: T.G. MILLER
ENERGY MODEL & COMMISSIONING:
ERDMAN ANTHONY AND ASSOCIATES
ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN CONSULTANT: ATELIER TEN
ACOUSTICAL CONSULTANT: AVL DESIGN
LIGHTING DESIGN: NAOMI MILLER LIGHTING DESIGN

GREEN PRODUCTS

EXTERIOR
LOCAL BLUESTONE: FINGER LAKES STONE COMPANY
ZINC WALL PANELS: RHEINZINK
STOREFRONT/GLAZING: EFCO
THERMOPLASTIC OLEFIN (TPO) ROOFING: CARLISE SYNTEC
NATIVE LANDSCAPING: CORNERSTONE LANDSCAPING

INTERIOR
DUAL-FLUSH TOILETS: SLOAN
ELECTRIC TRACTION ELEVATOR: OTIS “GEN-2”
AGRIFIBER PRODUCTS: SDC MILLWORK
GYPSUM BOARD: ACCURATE ACOUSTICAL
CARPET: LOW-VOC TO BE DETERMINED

STRUCTURAL
90 PERCENT RECYCLED STRUCTURAL
STEEL: NUCOR
FLY-ASH CONCRETE: SAUNDERS CONCRETE

MECHANICAL, CONTROLS, AND ENERGY
GROUND-SOURCE HEAT PUMPS: MCQUAY
GEOTHERMAL WELL FIELD: VIKING DRILLING
BUILDING ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: DAY AUTOMATION SYSTEMS
GREEN POWER PROVIDER: RENEWABLE CHOICE ENERGY
AUTOMATIC WINDOW OPERATORS: CLEARLINE