Colby College in Waterville, Maine, has received LEED Platinum certification for its renovation of Grossman Hall.
The college says the recognition for the recently renovated Grossman Hall is its first platinum certification and its 16th LEED certification. Colby now has the most LEED-certified buildings of any schools in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.
“These are important milestones that reflect our longstanding commitment to environmentally responsible development and operations,” says Mina Amundsen, assistant vice president for facilities and campus planning. “We are definitely raising the bar for both our building and campus landscape standards with the broader vision of a campus that actively supports academic programs and research in sustainability.”
Grossman Hall, a former residence hall, now is a nearly 16,000-square-foot building. It reopened in September 2017.
The facility has reduced its energy consumption by 48 percent because of a high-performance building envelope and an efficient HVAC system with energy recovery. Low-flow fixtures contribute to a 45.5-percent reduction in potable water use in the building.
Built in 1951, the building’s original 8,600 square feet were included in the renovation. More than 90 percent of regularly occupied spaces are illuminated with daylight and views to the outdoors, where native-plant landscaping around the building thrives without irrigation.
Grossman Hall houses DavisConnects, a program that provides Colby students global, internship, and research experiences regardless of personal networks, connections, and financial means.
Colby also is in its second year of using energy produced from a nine-acre solar array.
