LEEDers in Education
Midwest | Wednesday, February 24, 2010 | Alan G. Brake.
(photos by Cameron Campbell, RDG Planning and Design unless otherwise noted)
It’s official: design students at Iowa State University learn their craft in a LEED Platinum facility. The King Pavilion is the third Platinum building in Iowa, and one of the only design school buildings in the country to reach this highest level of certification. Designed by RDG Planning & Design of Des Moines, the wing features a green roof, extensive daylighting, blue jean insulation and other recycled building materials, among other sustainable strategies. Click through for more photos. 
(photo by Michael Miller, ISU College of Design)
4 Responses to “LEEDers in Education”
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I give them a triple Platinum for spell checking. Who is RPG from Des Moins
Corrected. Thanks for catching that.
It is nice to see that ISU has this new building in which to educate its students in the concept of sustainable design. The original building was an unmitigated disaster in terms of the concepts of leed. Its orientation fostered the use of aluminum foil by staff on south facing windows to provide a makeshift shield for heat and glare in their offices. The central atrium, although visually appealing and meant to be used as an educational tool for mechanical/circulation systems, was constantly hot as the heat became trapped under the central skylight. This of course added to the need for HVAC cooling particularly in the summer months on the upper floor levels.
The King Pavilion seems to be a very clean, modern design, and great to see the picture of the green roof. That interior space seems enormous though, and I’m curious to know how it functions in terms of heating and cooling. What kind of energy does it take to circulate the air through all of that open space and maintain steady temperatures? I love the blue jean insulation idea – how much denim is really in those walls?
Peter
The Neenan Company