Germanna Community College’s New LEED Silver Science & Engineering Building

Germanna Community College in Virginia opened their new green, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver building in early May. The new science & enginneering building, located at Germanna’s Fredericksburg campus, features:

~ Low maintenance landscaping;
~ Vegetative roof;
~ A rain water harvesting system, with the pump and cistern located underground, allowing the capture of rain water for use to flush the toilets;
~Integrated shading and daylight sensors which automatically adjust the need for artificial lighting by turning off unnecessary lights and adjusting window shades to utilize the right amount of natural light;
~ A wind turbine capable of providing enough energy to power 15 laptops and charge 100 cell phones;
~ Laboratory exhausts using an energy recovery system harnessing heated or cooled exhaust air to supplement the main HVAC air supply thus saving 50% on heating and cooling costs; and
~ Low-flow fixtures controlled by sensor-operated valves that will reduce water consumption.

One additional feature of Germanna’s new building is their student tour guides. Students will be available to give tours to fellow students, faculty, staff and community members sharing the green features of the building. This educational awareness effort is in part funded by the Greenforce Initiative, a partnership of Jobs for the Future and the National Wildlife Federation. Germanna Community College is a partner in the Greenforce Initiative, an effort to strengthen the capacity of community colleges to green the skills of our modern workforce.

The three story, 52,000 square foot green building will provide laboratories, instructional resources, student services and more to the Germanna community and the broader Fredericksburg community.

David A. Sam, Germanna’s President, Rob Wittman, U.S. Congressman, Ann Heidig, Chair of the

Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, and Glenn DuBois, Chancellor of the Virginia Community College System attended the opening ceremony along with more than 150 students, faculty, staff, and community residents.

Read Germanna Community College’s News Blog, New Germanna building teaches, too.

Learn more about the Greenforce Initiative in Virginia.

Note: Established by the U.S. Green Building Council, LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.