Global ChangeIntersection of Nature and Culture

A big accomplishment in green design

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

When I taught at Carleton College (Northfield, Minnesota), I watched from across the river as St. Olaf College constructed a new science center.  It is not just another college building; it’s the largest academic facility in the U.S. to receive LEED’s highest rating of platinum.

This past summer, I was back in Minnesota and toured it firsthand.   It’s a great building—very functional but visually stunning.  Congratulations, Oles.  You deserve a lot of credit for setting the bar high.

The real value of this building, in my opinion, is whether St. Olaf can use it as proof of concept for all future construction rather than it becoming the token green building on campus.  That’s when green design becomes a game changer in campus sustainability.

Excerpts:

St. Olaf College’s Regents Hall of Natural and Mathematical Sciences has earned platinum certification — the highest rating attainable — from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. The nearly 200,000-square-foot, $63 million building is the largest and most complex academic facility in the nation to earn the prestigious platinum rating.

“Actions speak louder than words,” says St. Olaf President David R. Anderson ‘74. “The LEED Platinum designation for Regents Hall demonstrates, once again, St. Olaf’s leadership among American colleges and universities in sustainability practices.”

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Photo credit:  Photo courtesy of St. Olaf College