RVC’s Jacobs Center awarded certification

• RVC is first community college in Illinois to have two LEED Gold certified projects

Staff Report

Rock Valley College (RVC) has been awarded LEED Gold Certification for the Karl J. Jacobs Center for Science and Math (JCSM).

The LEED rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.

RVC achieved LEED certification for implementing practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Following is just a sampling of the sustainable and energy conserving features incorporated into the JCSM building project:

• Facility uses 46.45 percent less energy than base-line laboratory/classroom building with annual energy cost savings estimated to $165,432 in 2012 dollars;

• Carbon dioxide emissions reduced by 520.42 metric tons per year;

• 420-ton closed-loop geothermal system provides 100 percent of heating and cooling load, utilizing a central modular heat pump system;

• 50 percent Green Power is provided to the campus from the grid when campus is not generating its own power at the campus cogeneration plant;

• Chilled beam cooling system;

• High-efficiency domestic water heating system;

• Low-flow plumbing fixtures utilized that reduce consumption by 30 percent;

• 1.5kv building-integrated photovoltaic system.

• High-efficiency light fixtures;

• Energy-reducing lighting controls, including occupancy sensors, daylight harvesting sensors and multiple switching zones;

• Reflective white roofing and vegetated green roofs;

• Recycled 76.07 percent of all construction waste — diverted 382 tons of waste from the landfill;

• Building materials with total recycled content of 23.7 percent; and

• Used low emitting paints, adhesives and construction materials and implemented strict indoor air quality program.

The JCSM is the second RVC building to be LEED Gold certified. The renovated Physical Education Center (PEC), also on the RVC main campus, 3301 N. Mulford Road, Rockford, was LEED Gold certified in 2010.

RVC is the first community college in Illinois to have two LEED Gold certified projects, and is one of fewer than 20 community colleges in the United States to have two buildings certified LEED Gold or higher.

RVC now has two of the three LEED Gold certified buildings in Rockford (the Rockford courthouse is the other).

The JCSM is also one of the first 15 projects in Illinois to achieve LEED Gold or higher under the updated and more stringent LEED 2009 system.

The Karl J. Jacobs Center for Science and Math opened on the RVC main campus in August 2011. The 106,000-square-foot building allows RVC to increase course offerings in science and math for transfer and career programs while providing a state-of-the-art learning environment that demonstrates the college’s commitment to sustainable and energy-conserving design.

The facility was designed by the Rockford firm of Saavedra Gehlhausen Architects in association with Demonica Kemper Architects, Chicago, as well as a dedicated team of consultants and RVC faculty and staff. The project was constructed by local builder Sjostrom and Sons Construction Company.

Jan. 26, the Northern Illinois American Institute of Architects gave Saavedra Gehlhausen Architects and Demonica Kemper Architects five awards, including the Award of Excellence for the best project done in the area in the last two years. The five awards they received were all for RVC projects: Award of Excellence in Architecture: JCSM — Jacobs Center for Science and Math (RVC), awarded for the Best Project Submitted; Award of Merit in Architecture: JCSM; Award of Honor — Green Design: JCSM; Award of Honor in Architecture: PEC — Physical Education Center (RVC); and Award of Merit Green Design: PEC — Physical Education Center (RVC).

RVC has been a leader in energy conservation and waste recycling for many years, but the RVC Board of Trustees has made a formal commitment to be a community leader in sustainability, not only through green design and LEED certification of all future RVC buildings, but in their philosophy of day-to-day college operations through the implementation of programs ranging from waste recycling to the use of “green” cleaning products.

From the Feb. 6-12, 2013, issue

Print This Article