The Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building, was completed in 2011. The largest academic facility on campus, the Gaige building uses a state-of-the-art design to stay energy-efficient and environment friendly.

Below are some facts about the Gaige building that make it the most energy efficient building at Penn State Berks! These facts are put up as signs through the building, developed by the Advanced Business Writing Class during the Fall semester of 2011.

 

LEED Certified

The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system administered by the US Green Building Council. This certification is given to buildings that implement a certain standard of practice during the design, construction and operation phase of the building.

The certification evaluates a building’s Sustainable sites, Water efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Innovation in design and well as the Indoor environment quality.

Building Materials and Design

• Light colored pavers, terracotta tiles and white roof are some of the materials that are used in the making of this building. Energy efficient LED lights controlled by motion sensors, and thermal windows help reduce over 26% energy consumption.
• Rooms are designed such that the building receives over 95% natural light, saving on electricity costs. Moreover, sensors in the hallway automatically adjust interior lighting based on the amount of daylight entering the building.
• The white roof prevents the building from excessively heating up during the summers, hence saving on cooling costs. Similarly, twelve thousand square foot of layered thermal windows containing argon gas help insulate the building during winters, saving on heating costs.
• The terracotta tiles provide make the exterior walls of the building water-proof, preventing seepage of water into the walls.
• Eighty-seven percent of all the construction waste was recycled or used as fuel instead of being sent to a landfill.
• All sealants, glues and paints used in this building are low volatile organic compounds. These materials improve indoor air quality as they are manufactured using a much lesser concentration of chemicals as compared to traditional materials.

Water Water Everywhere

• The building sits on two 35,000 gallon underground tanks that collect rooftop rainwater, which is then purified to be used to flush toilets, water plants and wash the building exterior. This reduces potable water consumption by 92 percent.
• All toilets are equipped with two-button control to optimize the use of water – one button to use less water for purely liquid waste.
• Several water bottle filling stations provide students with pure, chilled water to motivate students to use re-usable water bottles instead of using non-biodegradable plastic water bottles.

Appreciate the Trees

• The initial location for the construction for the Gaige building was the hill behind the Luerssen building, which was then moved to where it is now, saving forty-two thousand square feet of woodlands on the initially decided site.
• All the wooden doors in the building are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which ensured that the wood comes from sustainable forests.
• The Rain Garden adjoining the Gaige building captures excess rainwater from the under-ground storage tanks. The plants absorb this, preventing run-off and flooding.