University Fitness Centers Receive Green Design Awards

BOSTON -- Two university health centers were awarded green design awards for 2008 by the Green Education Design Showcase. Bunker Hill Community College’s Health & Wellness Center in Charlestown, MA, won the Green Design Concept Award, and Longwood University’s Student Health & Fitness Center in Farmville, VA, was named a Green Judges’ Choice Winner.

The 48,000-square-foot Health & Wellness Center under construction at Bunker Hill Community College was designed by DiNisco Design Partnership Ltd. of Boston. The center meets the new Massachusetts LEED Plus standards for green buildings as an anticipated LEED Silver-certified building. The Health & Wellness Center will exceed Massachusetts’ energy code requirements by at least 20 percent.

Moseley Architects of Virginia Beach, VA, and Hastings & Chivetta Architects Inc. of St. Louis, MO, designed the 74,683-square-foot Student Health & Fitness Center at Longwood University. Now in its second year of operation, the facility earned LEED Gold certification with features such as mechanical system and building envelope improvements to maximize energy efficiency, renewable energy, CO2 monitoring, efficient plumbing fixtures to reduce water use, recycled and regionally manufactured materials to conserve natural resources and low-emitting materials, and IAQ testing for optimum indoor air quality.

Project of Distinction awards were given to several other university health facilities: Case Athletic Complex at the University of Tulsa in Tulsa, OK; the Power Center at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA; the Recreational Sports Facility at Tarleton State University (Texas A&M University System) in Stephenville, TX; and the Student Recreation and Wellness Center at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Visit EducationDesignShowcase.com to see more award-winning school facilities. The site is an interactive database for administrators, architects, facility planners and others involved in the planning, design and construction of education facilities nationwide.