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Residential Architect, April, 2003 by Shelley D. Hutchins

The University of South Carolina practices what it teaches with its new sustainably designed West Quadrangle Living and Learning Center in Columbia, S.C. This green dorm is poised to become one of only four residence halls in the world certified by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. The complex will demonstrate sustainable design strategies, encourage interactive environmental learning, and educate inhabitants about conservation. Officials at USC chose Charlotte, N.C.-based Little & Associates Architects to spearhead the project. "We had to develop it within the constraints of normal student housing--no more money or time to invest in building green," says Jim Gleeson, AIA, leader of the design team.

To obtain LEED approval, Gleeson generated a plan that scored high in five categories: sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, interior environmental quality, and materials and resources. A study of three possible locales for the four-building, 187,315-square-foot complex led to a site that slopes downhill to the south. "This site will allow us to build in an ideal orientation for solar success, where 99 percent of the windows will face north or south," says Gleeson. Also, a bio-retention plan developed to reduce water runoff from the steep slope will actually save money because it solves an existing flood issue.

Typical dorms consume hefty quantities of water and energy, but Gleeson says increasing efficiency in those categories was simple. Such conscientious features as radiant solar water heating, low, flow fixtures, passive solar glazing, natural ventilation, and a 5-kilowatt fuel cell will cut energy use by an estimated 35 percent, he says. EFCO Corp. worked with the architect to develop windows with an integrated light shelf--a 6-inch metal plate protruding from between the operable window and the transom that shades the glass and bounces extra light inside.

Recycling plays a principal role in the materials-and-resources category both during and after construction. The construction contract states the contractor must recycle at least 75 percent of leftover materials and no product used can contain VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Once complete, the complex will harbor an elaborate system of recycling chutes leading to a central collection tunnel under the building.

To qualify for extra innovation points, the 500-bed complex, complete with open classrooms, technology lab, and faculty apartments, was designed to outlast its upcoming incarnation. Enduring materials (brick and precast concrete) and a loose-fit floor plan should extend the life of the structure. "We looked ahead to what the university might want in the future" says Gleeson, "and then devised a floor plan that will make it easy and inexpensive to add or subtract walls."