NAU research building officially goes green
Katie Clark - March 6th, 2008NAU is now home to one of the three greenest buildings around the world, with the Applied Research and Development building located on North Campus just receiving a platinum ranking.
The two other greenest buildings are located in Wisconsin with the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center and St. Louis’ Alberici Corp. headquarters.
Other Americans are finding green building desirable. A survey by the Natural Resources Defense Council said nine of 10 Americans want their local government to cease funding large, sprawling developments in favor of more green construction.
The ARD building earned 60 points out of a possible 69 from Leadership Energy and Environmental Design, a rating system designed by the U.S. Green Building Council to ensure absolute environmental sustainability.
Some of the potential points to be earned for LEED certification include light pollution reduction, the storage and collections of recyclables and the effectiveness of the ventilation system.
NAU President John D. Haeger said he plans on making all future NAU buildings green.
“Stewardship of place is not a new concept for Northern Arizona University,” Haeger said. “Our Applied Research and Development building showcases our climate mitigation commitment and innovations in high-performance construction technology.”
Even the construction of the building adhered to the highest environmental standards. Tom Bauer, assistant director for NAU Public Affairs, said that from the building’s construction, 90 percent of generated waste materials was recycled. A total of 30 percent of the building’s supplies are from recycled materials, including thousands of pairs of denim jeans being used for insulation.
The wood used for construction was entirely harvested from renewable forest-management systems located in the White Mountains.
The building used concrete that was a mixture of 40 percent fly ash waste from coal burning, which is able to minimize the high-carbon release in manufacturing cement.
Bauer said the ARD parking lot was first in the state to use pervious concrete, which allows water to be used in natural aquifers for irrigation purposes.
The ARD building stands at 59,821 square feet and uses energy sources like photovoltaic solar, donated by APS, which provides about 20 percent of its electricity.
“The remainder is through traditional sources, but because of the energy-efficient design the ARD building uses 60 percent less energy than a traditional building of this size,” Bauer said.
The building does not used any volatile organic compounds in its paint or carpet. The building roof serves as a place to grow and maintain an indigenous vegetation cover.
Bauer said reclaimed water is used for landscaping and toilets. The building also contains water-efficiency devices such as which are able to reduce water use by 60 percent.
The design of the building is also able to make use of natural light, which provides 75 percent of the lighting.
The building uses natural ventilation that has window shades controlled by computers to open and close automatically. Bauer said the computer is able to determine the most energy-efficient way to heat the building by using sunlight or by cooling the building by closing the shades.
The ARD building cost $26 million to construct and was designed by Burns Wald-Hopkins Architects and constructed by Kitchell Construction.
“The price tag is only about 10 percent higher than non-environmentally friendly buildings,” said Rich Bowen, NAU associate vice president for economic development, in a press release. “However, the design principles developed and knowledge gained during the design and construction of ARD will allow NAU and others in the state to build high-performance buildings for much less in the future, and the energy-saving features will make up the cost and difference in the long run.”
Two other buildings on campus received gold rankings: College of Engineering and the W. A. Franke College of Business buildings.
The business building also uses natural ventilation for cooling and uses natural light to reduce energy cost and use. The business building, similar to the ARD, uses reclaimed water.
The engineering building was rebuilt green by using reclaimed water for landscape. It was able to decrease potable water consumption by 90 percent. The engineering building also decreased electricity use by increasing natural light use by adding exterior windows.
In a press release, Mark Wilhelm, founding member of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Arizona Chapter, said because of environmental commitments NAU stands above other schools.
“What sets NAU apart is that it is not just committed to building green, climate mitigation efforts and research are an important part of its curriculum,” the statement read.
At the ARD building, Bauer said numerous groups are conducting research and students are involved in all the research that takes place.
For example, there are research facilities that focus on disease-causing bacteria like anthrax or plague.
Currently, located in the ARD building there is the Center for Sustainable Environments, which conducts research on sustainability, outreach and education. Also, the Colorado Plateau Cooperative Ecosystems Studies Unit, Ecological Monitoring and Assessment Program and Foundation and the Forest ERA, which links the public and profession to work together to protect forest ecosystems are located in the ARD.