Elmwood remodel receives design award

The remodeling of Elmwood Commons to the Student Success Center was recognized April 20 with the Excellence in Sustainable Design Award.

The award was given to KEE Architecture Inc. of Madison, the company responsible for the concept and creation of the building.

David Ewanowski, one of the three principals at the KEE firm, said the award comes with the knowledge that everyone involved in the project is helping save their environment.

"We are very proud of what we have done on this project and our work for sustainability and we believe that while our name is on the award, the award goes to all who helped make this project sustainable," Ewanowski said.

 The Excellence in Sustainable Design Award is given out by the Wisconsin State Building Commission.

"The State Building Commission consists of the governor, three state representatives and three senators and one public member that the governor appoints," Rep. Gordon Hintz, a member on the State Building Commission, said.  "Together we are responsible for all state funding and authorization for state buildings."

For a building to be considered eligible it must follow the State of Wisconsin Sustainable Design Guidelines, which are used by the commission and its support staff in the Division of State Facilities to help determine how sustainable the state buildings are.

In addition, the construction project will be submitted and is anticipated to qualify for U.S. Green Building Council LEED certification at the "Silver Level."  According to the USGBC website, LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is focused on verifying buildings that have been built with the environment and using less energy in mind.

"There are five categories," Joe Sokal, project manager with the Division of State Facilities, said. "They are sustainable sites or how it relates to the environment around it, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, indoor environmental quality and materials and resources – which deal with, among other things, how we filter the air and what resources or materials go into the building."

The Student Success Center has several factors that allow it to be considered sustainable.

"Most fundamental [to its sustainability] is the fact that much of the old building was retained rather than demolished and replaced," Ewanowski said.  "And everything that was removed was evaluated with respect to its reuse or recyclability and we ended up recycling about 94 percent of the parts rather than sending them to local landfills."

According to Michael Lizotte, the director of sustainability at Oshkosh, the reason for such a high recycling rate on campus was because of cooperation from WasteCap, a non-profit consulting firm hired by the state.

"We also worked with the state group WasteCap who are experts that will track people down who want the parts that you are unable to use, like a concrete slab or broken glass from the windows," Lizotte said.  "This is all so the parts from the building do not end up in a landfill."

According to the final report on the building renovation from WasteCap, the project generated 1,737.47 tons of waste and diverted 1,631.88 tons from going to the landfill for an overall project-recycling rate of 93.92 percent.

 Other factors include the focus on using recycled products in the building, the use of recycled paints and the geothermal heating and cooling system.

 "The best part is the geothermal," Sokal said. "Underneath the parking lot, there are about 65 or 70 wells with underground piping that connects to the building's heating and cooling system. This will be used for cooling in the summer and heating in the winter.  It is really unusual because it is right on the cutting edge."

Although the University itself did not win the award, having the building be recognized for its sustainability is a great aspect of not only the campus, but the community as well.

 "Oshkosh has been recognized as one of the best in the state for being foremost a leader in being an environmentally friendly practice," Hintz said.  "It's really nice to see."