KlingStubbins/Croxton Collaborative's design for St. Lawrence Univ. science facility awarded Gold LEED

KlingStubbins/Croxton Collaborative project, St. Lawrence University's Johnson Hall of Science, has achieved LEED Gold Certification. The US Green Building Council (USGBC) awarded 41 points on the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system to the documentation, earning the project Gold-level certification. This marks the Cambridge office's third LEED Certified project in 2008. Sustainable design strategies included orienting the new building on a true north / south axis and separating the building into two connected wings, result in a maximum effort to harvest daylight into all prime program areas. With a high-insulation envelope roof, dimmable fluorescent lighting, intelligent HVAC occupancy sensors, heat recovery on ventilation exhaust, and high-insulation glazing, the building is designed to operate on approximately 30% less energy than a conventional laboratory building. Johnson Hall succeeds in 'breaking open' the building, maximizing daylight duration and penetration to all four of its major north/south facades and, by creating a 'glass bridge' connecting the two upper floors on the south end of the building, has created a solar 'catchment' for the limited winter solar loads at this northern setting. The indoor/outdoor connection is a constant reality to all building occupants - all rooms receive 50% of the day with indirect light and 50% with a diffuse/controlled light traverse from the highest point of the sun to sunset. Highly resolved ceiling geometries and perimeter shading address glare/heat. Randolph Croxton, FAIA of Croxton Collaborative, the project's sustainable design principal, said that, "this evolution of ceiling geometry and building orientation is the third generation of refinement for this new approach to daylighting design." "We are positively ecstatic that St. Lawrence was awarded Gold Certification," said Peter Blewett, AIA, LEED AP, KlingStubbins' principal-in-charge on the project. "Sustainability is such an important element of design for our environment, our clients, and our future that any recognition serves to reinforce the gravity of the service. This being our third LEED Certification in just three months, I'd say it's a service we do well." KlingStubbins provides professional services in all major disciplines within the realm of architecture, engineering, interiors, planning, and landscape architecture. The firm consists of more than 540 professionals in its Cambridge, Mass.; Las Vegas; Philadelphia; Raleigh, NC; San Francisco; and Washington, DC offices. Its areas of market focus and specialization include corporate/commercial, government, health care, Higher Education, hospitality/entertainment, institutional/civic, mission critical, and research and development. Croxton Collaborative Architects has originated and developed much of the practice of environmental/sustainable and human-centered architecture and design, specifically cited in the 'National Leadership Award: 2005', given to Croxton Collaborative by the USGBC for having established the found principles and practices of 'green' architecture in America. Massive reductions in global warming and acid rain impacts (CO2, SOx, NOx), enhancements of biodiversity, and restorations of habitat characterize the full range of their work.