Carnegie Mellon Buildings Receive Gold LEED Certification

By Liviu Oltean, Associate Editor

Carnegie Mellon University has announced that the Gates Center for Computer Science and the Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies have been awarded with LEED gold certification by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The Gates and Hillman centers are among 10 other CMU buildings, such as the Stever House, the Collaborative Innovation Center and the Doherty Hall Phase2, that have received LEED certification .

Guy Blelloch, a professor of computer science and head of the faculty-staff committee that helped guide the design, commented on the important role of computer sciences in implementing effective ideas. “Computer simulation was an essential tool in designing the buildings to be energy efficient, and computers continue to cut energy use by carefully monitoring and controlling heating, lighting and ventilation systems,” he said.

The buildings were designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects of Atlanta and encompass 217,000 square feet of classrooms, offices and laboratories. In addition, the properties act as crossroads for the 143-acre campus, having five main entrances on three levels and two major pedestrian bridges.

Upon the completion of the project, the amount of green space will be doubled. The six-acre tract included a surface parking lot which was replaced with an underground garage.

The new buildings have five green roofs and a winter garden, which were designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates of Brooklyn and Cambridge, and include systems for collecting about a half a million gallons of rainwater and snowmelt per year.

During the construction phase, about 98 percent of the construction waste was reused or diverted from landfills, and more than 15 percent of the building materials used have been recycled and manufactured locally.

The Gates Center was partially funded through a $20 million grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, while the Hillman Center was funded by a $10 million gift from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation.

Picture Courtesy of Wikipedia User, Mh