The Hidden Life of Green

Sustainable Features In Buildings Don't Have To Be Front And Center To Have A Meaningful Impact On Performance

Highly sustainable buildings that don’t look particularly “green” have become more standard for acadmic institutions that retain and manage their properties for the long term. In large part, due to their sense of permanence and past experiences, these clients have taken the lead in recognizing and taking advantage of the operational benefits of high-performance construction. After all, explains Robert Simmons, AIA, senior associate at Bruner/Cott & Associates in Cambridge, Massachusetts, “It saves money in the long run.” At the same time, however, these institutions must carefully consider how new facilities will fit visually into their existing campuses, be they modern or traditional in style.

Robert A.M. Stern Architects, working with Atelier Ten and the New York City engineering firm Flack and Kurtz, recently designed the School of Business at Ithaca College in New York with no overtly green attributes (although the team is aiming for a LEED Platinum rating, the highest level offered by LEED). Philosophically, explains Wyatt, his firm believes that a new building should be appropriate to its particular campus. In this case, the existing style is post-World War II modern.

The building site is on the north side of the campus and its best views are due north, as the terrain slopes away to Lake Cayuga. Keeping to a Modernist vocabulary to help stitch the new building into its existing fabric, the architects—led by RAMSA Associate Partner Kevin Smith, AIA—developed a panel-cladded rain-screen wall system with horizontal windows on the north facade to maximize the panoramic view while minimizing energy loss, and a glass wall on the south to maximize daylighting. The glass wall begins at a vertical angle at grade and then curves at top to obtain the preferred solar angle for this latitude, thereby increasing the amount of light penetrating the south-facing rooms and courtyard during winter. Its high-performance glazing transmits a high percentage of visible sunlight, minimizes solar heat gain, and exhibits good color rendition. The base of the building—constructed with a six-inch metal-stud backup wall that is heavily insulated and air-sealed—is clad with ashlar stone from a local quarry, reflecting the surrounding landscape.

Wyatt explains that, at the beginning of design, the project team kept in mind a broad selection of potential sustainable technologies—including photovoltaics and hydronic solar heating on the south facade—because a LEED Platinum rating was one of the project goals. Both types of panels, however, were nixed as the design progressed because further testing and analysis indicated that there were more cost-effective ways to achieve the desired performance level in the locale at the time. The architects did specify a vegetated roof for part of the building because it provides more insulation, captures storm water, and has a longer service life than a conventional roof, but it will not be visible to onlookers.

Wyatt credits basic massing strategies—such as the building’s central atrium and south-facing second-floor garden terrace, both of which are consistent with a Modernist design vocabulary—with much of the building’s expected energy savings. Both the atrium and terrace will bring daylight further into the interior of the building. In addition, the atrium will encourage thermal stratification, which will help the ventilation system achieve greater comfort and more efficient cooling in summer. And, the warm air that rises to the top of the atrium in winter will be recirculated, thereby helping to reduce the building’s heating load.