The Gold level LEED certification has been awarded to the Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies and the Gates Center for Computer Science of Carnegie-Mellon founded by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and been validated by the Green Building Certification Institute.
Buildings Win Acclaim for Green Design, Construction, Operation
The 217,000 sq ft building consists of offices, classrooms and laboratories that were designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam of Atlanta. The building with two key pedestrian bridges and five main foyers on three levels also function as crossways. The space, which was previously occupied by parking slots and buildings now sport a green landscape with a winter garden and five green roofs designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates of Brooklyn, N.Y. the surface parking has gone underground with a 150-space garage.
The construction managed by the general contractor, PJ Dick of Pittsburgh reused 19,000 t of on-site construction waste and used materials made out of recycled materials and also manufactured within a radius of 500 mi of the construction. The wood that was used was from sustainable forests. The other eco-friendly initiatives taken for the building are installation of low-flush urinals and low-flow lavatories and rain water and snow melt harvesting, which will be used for flushing toilets thus saving on the use of potable water. Rotary heat exchangers or enthalpy wheels in the ventilation systems restrict loss of energy. Lighting and temperature is controlled by occupancy sensors all over the buildings.
Source: http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml