Case's Village at 115 to be among nation's leaders in energy efficiency,
environmentally conscious design
First phase of $126 million North Residential Village
to open this fall
May 9, 2005 | For more information: Kimyette
Finley 216-368-0521
 Case Western Reserve University’s new $126 million housing project —The
Village at 115—is expected to be among the nation’s leaders
in energy efficiency and environmentally conscious design.
In addition to pursuing points on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) green building rating system for the seven residential
houses in three buildings that will open this fall, Case also is establishing
one of the most comprehensive systems for measuring energy consumption.
“We expect to be among the first LEED-certified buildings in
Ohio and considered a national leader in energy measurement
and verification. This will be on the cutting edge,” said Donald
Kamalsky, assistant vice president for student
affairs and director of housing at Case.
Informational kiosks in each residential house will provide the 740
students who occupy The Village at 115 with statistics on real-time
steam, water and electricity. Monthly and annual energy use will be
monitored and calculated per house and per student occupant.
In addition, energy operations for the Village at 115 will be compared
to existing conventionally-designed buildings on campus.
Overall, the high performance buildings in The Village at 115 are expected
to reduce annual energy consumption by 40 percent, and reduce peak heating
and cooling demand by 30-40 percent over conventional buildings.
“We wanted to make the buildings a teaching instrument and help
students to learn and live an environmentally appropriate lifestyle,” said
Gene Matthews, director of facilities services at Case. “Once
students understand how their lifestyles impact [the environment], they
can begin to control how much energy the building consumes, and it gives
them some control over their living space.
“Our goal is to produce a generation of students who are more
environmentally aware and conscious not because they learned it out
of a book, but because they learned to live that way here,” Matthews
added.
The data on energy consumption also will be broadcast on the Internet,
allowing researchers from almost anywhere to access the information.
Energy-efficient initiatives for The Village at 115 include a heating
and cooling system design that allow for hot and chilled water to be
generated at two central locations and then distributed to each house
that is part of this phase of the project. The system is designed to
reduce energy usage and loss, as well as maximize free cooling and heating
during the “shoulder” seasons of fall and spring.
The Village at 115 also features a unique system for ground water recharge,
the collection of surface storm water and most roof run-off water. The
water will percolate into the ground gradually rather than into the
sewer system with wastewater.
“Students said we should be a model for building energy-efficient
buildings. Being responsive to environmental concerns was the responsible
thing to do,” Kamalsky said.
In addition to the environmentally conscious features that will exist
in the new buildings, Kamalsky said about 60 percent of the construction
waste for this project has been recycled.
Other energy conservation measures and efforts to encourage recycling
for The Village at 115 include:
- highly insulated, air tight buildings
- light shelves
- high-performance windows
- local materials such as brick, slate and poured
in place concrete (cuts down on fuel
and transportation costs)
- construction materials that
were made from recycled materials
- motion detectors
to monitor occupancy and reduce energy used
for lighting
- recycling bins in each residential house
- electrical distribution that
is designed to reduce power loss
- individual fan
coil units in each suite to moderate temperature
- drip
irrigation and low-flow plumbing fixtures
for water conservation
Project organizers are compiling an inventory of all these environmental
measures and will send the information to the U.S. Green Buildings
Council, which will award LEED points for the project. LEED-certified
professionals have been involved with various stages of The Village
at 115.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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