A classroom rehabilitation at the University of Toledo's Memorial Field House, Toledo, Ohio, has been awarded LEED gold certification. The project embraces the historic legacy of the collegiate Gothic-style fieldhouse, which had been vacant since 1976. The new facility houses classrooms, teaching labs, public spaces and faculty offices.
Sustainable design elements have transformed this space into a 21st-century center for learning and student engagement. Sustainable outcomes and incorporated design elements include: 40 percent less water consumption than a conventional classroom building through installation of water-efficient plumbing; 20 percent less energy consumption compared with a new classroom building with conventional exterior walls, windows and mechanical equipment; energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, and housing of an existing chilled-water plant that cools more than half of the buildings on campus; open green space equal in size to the building's footprint has been set aside and will remain open for as long as the building exists; light, reflective roofing types to reduce the building's heat-island effect; indigenous plant species and local planting material, eliminating the need to provide an irrigation system; bike racks and nearby showering facilities in lieu of additional parking to encourage sustainable methods of transportation; recycling more than 50 percent of the construction debris for this project; reusing more than 75 percent of the building's exterior and structural elements; and incorporating local materials.
BHDP Architecture (Cincinnati) is architect for the project.
