Lansing Community College (LCC) is seeking Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for its existing 260,000-sqaure foot, West Campus building.
“It’s just for basic certification,” says Chris Strugar-Fritsch with LCC. “In a nutshell, 60 percent of the building is heated and cooled with a geothermal system, and that saves us quite a bit of money.”
Strugar-Fritsch says the environmentally friendly heating system saves the school about $100,000 a year in energy costs. The geothermal system was implemented while the building was being constructed in 2004.
“The payback period was less than 10 years, so that made it cost-effective,” Strugar-Fritsch says.
LCC’s West Campus houses the school’s alternative energy program.
“It made sense to have a live demonstration where the students can actually be in a environment that has an alternative energy source,” Strugar-Fritsch says.
The West Campus doesn’t have occupancy sensors, but it does have a system that shuts off lights at certain times of day. LLC’s also developed some recycling programs for the West Campus. Students recycle the oil that the automotive shop uses, the metals in the welding classes and wood in the carpentry classes.
LCC has submitted a LEED certification application with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
Source: Chris Strugar-Fritch, LCC
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie
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