Central College has Green Plan
Email News Release
Des Moines Register / January 20, 2009
Biz Buzz Column
LYNN HICKS & DAVID ELBERT
business@dmreg.com
Green plan: Central College in Pella is building a 57,000-square-foot classroom building that school officials hope will be the first in Iowa to receive a platinum Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, designation from the U.S. Green Building Council.
To win a designation from the council, projects must include aspects that are energy and environmentally efficient.
For example, Central recycled all the waste from an apartment building that had to be torn down to make room for its building, said Mike Lubberden, the college's facilities director.
The $16 million building's green features include a vegetative roof, an in-floor heating and cooling system, and a ventilation system that shuts down mechanical cooling when windows are open. An automated sensor system will tell occupants when they should open or close windows based on internal and external conditions.
The Pella college is already becoming an efficient school with two LEED-certified buildings. The college's Vermeer Science Center won a silver designation when it was renovated in 2003, and an addition to McKee Hall, a dormitory, received a gold certification in 2005.
Des Moines-based RDG is the architect for the new building for education and psychology students. Weitz Co. is the contractor for the building, which will be completed next summer.