Wingate University Opens Levine College of Health Sciences
Yates.Chreitzberg.Hughes Architects and Wingate University are proud to announce the opening of The Levine College of Health Sciences building. In anticipation of achieving LEED Silver from the U.S. Green Building Council, WIngates’s new home to the College of Health Sciences is a 70,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility that will be the highest LEED certification in Union County, and the only LEED building in Wingate, North Carolina.
YCH is no stranger to sustainable building. In the last few months they have: achieved LEED Gold on RCCC Building 400; opened The Levine College of Health Sciences building, which is seeking LEED silver; and are now working on a LEED Certified Compressed Natural Gas filling station for York County Natural Gas. With the Architectural Field being a difficult place to find work, YCH is very happy to be achieving all this Green success.
LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the USGBC’s voluntary, consensus based, international rating system for Green Buildings. LEED addresses all building types and emphasizes advanced design and construction strategies in six categories.
- Sustainable Sites
- Water Efficiency
- Energy & Atmosphere
- Materials & Resources
- Indoor Environmental Quality
- Innovation & The Design Process
LEED is an overall points system. Each category is broken down into specific criteria. Each criterion has a specified number of points associated with it. When one is met, the points are added to the overall score. The final score places you into one of four different categories for the award: Certified, the lowest; Silver; Gold; or Platinum, the highest. YCH was diligent in in all steps of the design process in order to achieve the highest LEED certification possible for this project, LEED Silver.
YCH selected the site due to its connectivity with the surrounding campus and community. The building was designed to maximize open space on the site, thus leaving over much of the site natural. Materials for the building consist of over 30% recycled content and 44% regional materials, coming from within a 500 mile radius. More than 20% of waste in a typical US landfill is construction material. This project managed to recycle 83% of construction waste, saving 269 tons from taking up space at the local landfill. 83% of all wood included in the project is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which ensures that the wood is cut from responsibly managed and harvested forests. All plumbing fixtures within the COHS are low flow which saves, inside the building alone, 141,665 gallons of water per year. Outside the building, YCH again carefully picked the plant material as well as how these plants were going to receive water. The design team chose drought resistant vegetation and also elected to use only a drip irrigation system. Drip irrigation systems are much more efficient than traditional spraying systems because they deliver water underground straight to the roots, preventing loss into streets and storm drains. This small change in how plants are receiving water saves Wingate University 200,736 gallons of water annually.
Inside the building steps were taken to protect the indoor environmental quality, not only for the end users of the building but also during construction. The HVAC system includes C02 sensors that adjust the amount of fresh air being pumped into the building to control indoor pollution levels. This system was also completely sealed off during construction, so as not to collect construction dust and debris, which would later be released onto the users. All paints, sealants, caulking, carpet, and plywood are 100% free of VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds). This means the typical odors associated with fresh paint, new carpet and glue were nonexistent in this project, not during construction or after opening, therefore creating a more pleasant indoor space.
YCH is excited to reveal this shining achievment in Sustainable Building for Wingate University, and would like to thank Wingate for the opportunity to work on their new home for the College of Health Sciences. The firm is continuing to work on other sustainable projects and is always looking for more opportunities to show off their their technological, sustainable, and creative skill set.
For More Information on these buildings or about the firm, YCH Architects please contact:
- Bill Hughes, AIA, LEED – billh@ycharch.com
- Dennis Yates, AIA – dennisy@ycharch.com
