When the College of Education building opens, it might just be a LEED leader.
The building — across from Hokona Hall — will be open for classes in the fall semester, and its use of energy efficient features may earn it a rating of platinum in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating system by the U.S. Green Building Council. Platinum is the highest rating the Council gives, according to its Web site.
University spokesman Benson Hendrix said the building’s energy efficiency standards make it unique to the state.
“I know they’re looking for at least gold, and hopefully LEED platinum standard,” he said. “And if it’s a LEED platinum, that’s supposed to be the first building I know on campus, but I believe the first public building in the state. That’s what they’re aspiring for here.”
The Green Building Council’s Web site lists only one platinum-certified building in New Mexico — the Cognitive Behavioral Institute of Albuquerque. The building is commercially owned, according to the Institute’s Web site.
Hendrix said there’s one more unique aspect to the new Continuing Education building: a design feature that allows the setup of the classrooms to change depending on which class will be taught in it.
“They’re integrating as much technology as they can into these classroom areas,” he said. “They’ve got a kind of modular setup, where they can bring stuff out of the storage area, depending on the type of classroom that you’re teaching for.”
Hendrix said the Continuing Education building will also contain new Deans’ offices, which will be in use before the classrooms.
Mary Clark, program specialist for UNM’s Office of Sustainability, said a New Mexico state law mandates that every new building in the state must meet at least LEED silver standards.
Clark said the College of Education will be the first building on campus to have photovoltaic panels on its roof, although a planned parking structure on Lomas Boulevard will also have the panels.
Steve Chavez, project manager for the College of Education, said being LEED certified means the Green Building Council evaluates every stage of a project to determine how energy-efficient and sustainable a building is.
“They go through a system of scoring that evaluates the building from design through construction,” he said. “Then they look at those and validate those particular criteria to determine a level of achievement based on a ratings system that they’ve applied to points as to what the building could achieve as part of their criteria.”
The Green Building Council’s Web site gives nine criteria for LEED certification, including water efficiency, indoor environmental quality and innovative design. According to the Web site, projects are evaluated out of 110 total possible points across all areas. LEED platinum certification requires 80 points or more, while gold certification requires 60 or more points.
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Chavez said the LEED certification is achieved not through reliance on new technology, but by efficient application of existing technology.
“The buildings are built with the same systems. It’s just how the systems are incorporated into the building for efficiency purposes and other items that are part of building scope and standard,” he said. “The stuff that we use is pretty much manufacturer’s standard product lines that are designed to meet or produce higher efficiencies.”
Every part of the building needs to work toward making the building more energy efficient in order to achieve the highest LEED score of platinum from the Green Building Council, Chavez said.
“Every component of the building is evaluated,” he said. “There’s not one particular piece or anything that stands alone by itself, except for maybe some energy production issues, which is a portable tank system that we installed that produces energy that we consume.”
