Queally Hall upholds Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards

Queally Hall’s construction is well underway and is keeping in line with the President’s Climate Commitment that President Edward Ayers signed in 2008.  The University at large has committed to ensuring that all new campus construction will uphold the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a part of the United States Green Building Council. 

The LEED rating system is on a point scale and is broken into four levels: the first is Basic, second is Silver, third is Gold and fourth is Platinum.

“There are a number of tangible items in the President’s Climate Commitment and among them is the commitment to build all buildings [on campus] to the LEED Silver standard,” according to Andrew McBride, University Architect.

The LEED rating system is broken out into six areas that a building like Queally Hall will be rated upon when applying.  These include: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environment quality, and finally, innovation and design process.

Within the sustainable sites subcategory, there are 14 possible points that a building can earn, and new buildings at the University typically earn around eight to nine points, McBride explained.  Queally Hall can expect to receive one point within this section for community connectivity, given its proximity to on-campus restaurants, the University’s chapel, and various on-campus museums.

Queally Hall can also be expected to earn a point for reserving parking spaces for hybrid vehicles and commuters who carpool.  Queally’s proximity to the Greater Richmond Transit Connector bus stop will also fall under sustainable sites.  Just like other buildings on campus, Queally Hall will cut down on light pollution due to the fact that outdoor lighting is cut off so that it doesn’t shine up into the sky.

Under the category of water efficiency, Queally boasts low-flow urinals and dual flush toilets that will cut down on the amount of water used.  In addition, “Lavatories and faucets have automatic occupancy sensors that cut water off so that people cannot overuse the water flow to begin with,” said McBride.  Kitchens in the addition will also feature low-flow faucets.

In the third area of energy and atmosphere, McBride said that, at a minimum, Queally Hall will exceed the code from an energy savings point of view by 14 percent, but that the percentage will be unknown until an energy model is completed after the building has opened. 

Within materials and resources, Queally Hall (like the Robins School of Business and all other buildings on campus) will take care of its recycled trash by having designated bins within the building.  Setting up a recycling site is a perquisite for all new buildings.  During Queally’s construction phase, at least 75 percent of construction materials like masonry debris, dry wall, certain metals and scrap created from job sites are being recycled, which can earn a building two points.

If a building is made up of at least 20 percent of recycled materials and resources it can earn an additional two points.  Within Queally, the dry wall has recycled content, carpet has recycled content and the concrete used also contains recycled content.

In terms of indoor environment quality, the addition contains over 90 percent of occupied spaces that have views of outside.  Within the bracket of thermal comfort design, Queally Hall has access to lighting, thermostats, and operable windows.  Certain measures, like using low-emitting materials called volatile organic compound, are being taken currently during construction and will be maintained during early occupancy to ensure that allergens will not be present in the environment.

Finally, under innovation and design, Queally (like all other new University buildings) will use chemicals that are friendlier to the environment and integrated pest management by starting with pest prevention.

According to the University’s Sustainability webpage, “Our goal is to ensure that all new campus construction will be built to at least LEED Silver standard or its equivalent,” and Queally Hall will be no different.