The Jeffery W. Barry Center on Walsh College's Troy campus gets most of its power from renewable resources, captures and filters its water, and converts waste heat into electricity. And now, it has a shiny new plaque to hang on the wall.
The Barry Center, a 37,000-square-foot, two-level classroom building, was certified LEED Gold by the U.S Green Building Council for utilizing green design and building practices. Ground was broken in 2006 and the facility opened for classes in January of 2008.
Christine Stout, director of facilities and auxiliary services for Walsh College, explains that the project came about as part of a master facility planning process, which in part identified what the college needed space-wise. While not a public institution and therefore not required to be LEED certified for its building project, "We thought it would be a worthwhile goal," she says.
Committee members had originally set its sights on bronze (now certified), then silver, and upon realizing they were close to the requirements for gold, decided to go for it. "We do think it's important to be good stewards of our common resources," Stout says. "We are a member of the community, just like everyone else."
Plus, Walsh being a business college, the committee realized that having a LEED-certified building could have in impact on the business community: When students go out into the business world, they can remember their "comfortable, functional and efficient building."
"They can say, 'When I was at Walsh, they did a building project and it wasn't hard.' It's good for us."
Among the Barry Center's green accomplishments: 70 percent of its electricity comes from renewable resources; every year 7 million gallons of water are captured and filtered in bioswales and a constructed wetland before being recharged into the water supply; and landscaping with native plants that do not require irrigation saves 825,000 gallons of water and $5,000 in city fees annually.
Other benefits include the conversion of waste heat into electricity through energy recovery technology; a 20-percent energy savings via a doubling of the building's insulation; and energy-efficient plumbing that reduced potable water use by 40-percent.
Stout says she was excited to show off the LEED certification plaque, a circle of recycled glass that will be hung in Barry's main hallway.
Source: Christine Stout, director of facilities and auxiliary services for Walsh College
Writer: Kristin Lukowski
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