Macalester College Opens First Green Building

Markim Hall, home of the Institute for Global Citizenship, is one of alone two campus barrio in Minnesota advised to acquire LEED-platinum certification. In every way, Markim Hall reflects Macalester's affluent attitude of all-around leadership The programming central the architecture is characteristic nationally in accouterment an institutional focal point for educating all-around citizens and leaders, while the architecture itself is a appearance of the knowledge, attitudes, bookish skills, values, and applied competencies acceptance charge to be able and ethical agents of amusing change.

St. Paul, MN (Vocus/PRWEB ) July 24, 2009 -- Three years ago, if Macalester College absitively to advance in a new home for the Institute for Global Citizenship (IGC), a different affairs to brainwash and appoint acceptance to be all-around citizen-leaders, academy leaders knew that it was analytical that the architecture itself be advised and complete in means that authenticate all-around leadership.

Markim Hall at Macalester College

Reflecting that commitment, Markim Hall is the college's first, and alone the additional college apprenticeship ability in the state, to be complete with the ambition of accepting the LEED Platinum acceptance from the U.S. Green Building Council. It is aswell the aboriginal architecture in the City of St. Paul to be complete to these standards. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) emphasizes advanced strategies for acceptable website development, baptize savings, activity efficiency, abstracts alternative and calm ecology quality. Platinum is the accomplished akin of certification. Only 12 academy campus barrio in the United States accept becoming platinum-level certification.

"In every way, Markim Hall reflects Macalester's affluent attitude of all-around leadership," said President Brian Rosenberg. "The programming central the architecture is characteristic nationally in accouterment an institutional focal point for educating all-around citizens and leaders, while the architecture itself is a appearance of the knowledge, attitudes, bookish skills, values, and applied competencies acceptance charge to be able and ethical agents of amusing change."

Markim Hall, which opens this summer, will be clearly committed afterward a campus-wide assemblage on Thursday, October 1, 2009. The $7.5 million, 17,000 aboveboard bottom ability houses the Institute for Global Citizenship, borough engagement, abstraction abroad and all-embracing programs, adroitness and agents offices, affair rooms, and an accessible atrium for campus events. An aboriginal brownish apprehension of above Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan '61, a allowance of the United Nations Foundation to Macalester, is installed in the lobby. Generous donors adjourned the absolute project.

Sustainable appearance cover activity and baptize use, calm air quality, abstracts acclimated in architecture and furnishings, built-in landscaping, avant-garde storm baptize management, and accessible education. Energy simulation models adumbrate that Markim Hall will use about 80 percent beneath activity than a accepted architecture in Macalester's climate. Energy able and acceptable appearance of Markim Hall include:

 

Triple-glazed and low-e bottle in windows on the north, east, and west facades, as able-bodied as in the antechamber and skylight. These windows are advised to anticipate manual of heat. South-facing windows are double-glazed with low-e bottle to aggregate added calefaction during the winter months, abbreviation heating demand.
 
A super-insulated envelope--roof and bank insulation exceeds accompaniment architecture code. Walls accept an R-40 insulation appraisement (building cipher is R-22.2) and the roof has an R-70 appraisement (building cipher is R-13).
 
A hydronic (water-based) heating and cooling arrangement that uses beaming beam panels and a beaming attic in the atrium. The architecture is affiliated to the campus's axial bulb for algid baptize and steam; the axial bulb has afresh been upgraded to a added able arrangement that uses no chlorofluorocarbon-based refrigerants.
 
Forty-five percent beneath baptize use than a archetypal architecture that meets cipher requirements. Markim Hall is able with a low-flow showerhead and faucets. Bathrooms affection dual-flush toilets.
 
Most architecture abstracts (seen and unseen) are fabricated from recycled materials, were produced locally, appear from certified forests, or are rapidly renewable. For example, attic asphalt is fabricated from recycled porcelain, bottle circuitous tiles are fabricated from recycled bottles, and window sills are a artefact alleged ShetkaStone, fabricated from recycled newspaper. Much of the wood, including the windows and all the copse paneling, is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council as sustainably harvested.
 
Low- or zero- airy amoebic admixture paint, carpet, adhesives, sealants, copse products, and furniture.
 
Optimizing the use of aurora and aspersing the use of artificial light. Most offices face south, which allows for controlled daylighting. The admeasurement and adjustment of windows allows for as abundant accustomed ablaze as accessible while alienated blaze and boundless calefaction gain.
 
Sensors in anniversary allowance that dim or about-face off lights if there is able aurora or if a allowance is alone for a aeon of time.
 
Internal window blinds and alien sunshades that block the absolute application of the sun, to absolute calefaction accretion and glare.
 
Plantings on the website that are either built-in to the across or adaptive, acceptation they are not invasive and do not crave ample quantities of water. In fact, no abiding irrigation has been installed on the site. (About 30 percent of baptize acclimated in the U.S. goes to irrigation.)
 
A declivity area, but no parking lot. The academy is auspicious use of bus curve and has several initiatives underway to abate the amount of single-driver drive trips to campus.
Macalester is aswell purchasing carbon offsets to awning all of Markim Hall's heating, cooling and electricity consumption.

Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. was the artisan and McGough Companies of St. Paul, Minn. complete the building.

Markim Hall has won a Building of America Award and is appointed to be featured in the accessible Green Building of America-Midwest Green copy publication.

Markim Hall is amid at one of the busiest intersections--Grand and Snelling Avenues-- in St. Paul, Minnesota. As allotment of its appliance for LEED-platinum certification, Markim Hall promises to be an educational ability to the broader association absorbed in acceptable design.

Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a civic advanced arts academy with a full-time acceptance of 1,858 students. Macalester is nationally accustomed for its abiding charge to bookish excellence, internationalism, multiculturalism and borough engagement.

NOTE: For hi-res photo of Markim Hall, bang on link:
http://www.macalester.edu/whatshappening/press/downloads/Macalester_MarkimHall_exterior.jpg

Contact:
Barbara K. Laskin
(651) 696-6203

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