A groundbreaking on Oct. 11 kicked off a project aiming to construct the largest Living Building Challenge-certified residence on a university campus. The Living Village, a 45,000 sf home for Yale University Divinity School graduate students, “will make an ecological statement about the need to build in harmony with the natural world while training students to become ‘apostles of the environment’,” according to Bruner/Cott, which is leading the design team that includes Höweler + Yoon Architecture and Andropogon Associates.
Designed to achieve 24.4 EUI (energy use intensity per sf annually), the facility will be net-positive for energy. Solar roof tiles and a photovoltaic canopy over a parking lot will generate 310,000 kWh of electricity, or 105% of the power the residence consumes averaged out over a year, according to Jason Jewhurst, AIA, Principal, Bruner/Cott.
The power system will have a net-metered connection to the grid. “We expect to generate surplus energy for six months of the year,” Jewhurst says. Ducted air-source heat pumps will provide heating and cooling. Fresh air will be supplied by a separate dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS).
A water reclamation system with a capacity for about 900,000 gallons a year will treat greywater for reuse in toilets, laundry, and drip irrigation, Jewhurst says. Underground cisterns will collect rainwater runoff from the roof.
Below-market-rate residential units will range from micro studios to one and two-bedroom apartments. A single-loaded corridor layout ensures that all rooms have views of a central courtyard. Common areas will include lounges, study nooks, and a community kitchen that will host celebrations and events. Outdoor amenities on the 4.5-acre site include an amphitheater, community terrace, and regenerative landscape over a former parking lot.
The superstructure will be assembled using low-carbon mass-timber and dimensional lumber. All building materials will meet the rigorous requirements of the Living Building Challenge’s materials petal that specifies products free of toxins and harmful chemicals.
Real-time water and energy usage monitors will provide residents and the university community with insight on sustainable buildings.
On the project team:
Owner and/or developer: Yale Divinity School
Design architect: Bruner/Cott Architects with Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Landscape Architect: Andropogon Associates
MEP engineer: van Zelm Engineers
Structural engineer: Silman
Related Stories
Energy-Efficient Design | Mar 25, 2022
University of Pittsburgh Releases ‘Pitt Climate Action Plan’
The University of Pittsburgh has released the Pitt Climate Action Plan, detailing how the University will achieve its goal to go carbon neutral by 2037 through investments in clean energy, transportation, efficiency and other areas.
Higher Education | Mar 24, 2022
Higher education sector sees 19 percent reduction in facilities investments
Colleges and universities face a growing backlog of capital needs and funding shortfalls, according to Gordian’s 2022 State of Facilities in Higher Education report.
Projects | Mar 16, 2022
Tomorrow’s STEM leaders get a state-of-the-art research complex
In February, North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State University (NC A&T) opened its new Engineering Research & Innovation Complex (ERIC).
University Buildings | Mar 7, 2022
A new facility can offer thousands of equine therapy sessions a year
At its new Spur campus in Denver, Colorado State University (CSU) will bring its expertise to the public by offering free educational experiences to visitors of all ages. Spur’s three buildings—Hydro, Terra, and Vida—will focus, respectively, on water, earth, and life.
University Buildings | Mar 4, 2022
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee celebrates new chemistry building with groundbreaking
The building will serve as a gateway for all STEM and health science related majors, housing the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Higher Education | Mar 1, 2022
SRG Partnership designs a nautically inspired space for maritime science
A community college in Oregon has begun construction on a new building devoted to maritime science. With it, the school hopes to solidify its position as a major industrial and marine technology center in the Pacific Northwest.
Education Facilities | Feb 24, 2022
New ASU science and tech building features innovative sustainability elements
Arizona State University’s Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 7, completed in December 2021, was constructed with numerous innovative sustainability elements.
University Buildings | Feb 18, 2022
On-campus performing arts centers and museums can be talent magnets for universities
Cultural facilities are changing the way prospective students and parents view higher education campuses.
University Buildings | Feb 18, 2022
UPenn converts a library past its prime to a tech-integrated learning and maker
In September 2021, Penn reopened its renovated and expanded library as an open center for cross-disciplinary learning, prototyping, and collaboration. Now called Biotech Commons, the 17,000-sf building supports new modes of research by offering a range of spaces and services that is free to be scheduled by any student or faculty member.
University Buildings | Feb 17, 2022
A vacated school in St. Louis is turned into a center where suppliers exchange ideas
In 1871, The Carondelet School, designed by Frederick William Raeder, opened to educate more than 400 children of laborers and manufacturers in St. Louis. The building is getting a second lease on life, as it has undergone a $2 million renovation by goBRANDgo!, a marketing firm for the manufacturing and industrial sectors.