Bernards is excited to make the Kravis Center the second LEED® certified building on Claremont McKenna College’s campus. CMC and our team are shooting for LEED® Gold on this project and are committed to finding real, sustainable building solutions to lessen the negative environmental impacts of construction. Bernards has 4 seasoned team members on-site that are LEED® Accredited Professionals, and 42 company-wide, that are well versed in sustainable building.
LEED®, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is managed by the U.S. Green Building Council, and provides a set of standards for new construction and renovations to make construction greener. Increased momentum toward sustainable building has turned LEED® into a bit of a “buzzword,” so we want to dig a little deeper and tell you exactly what areas we’re working on to achieve LEED® Gold.
LEED® identifies six categories for builders to improve their construction process: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy & atmosphere, materials & resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovative design. In our last blog, we touched on the “materials & resources” when we told you about the recycled content in our concrete and rebar.
At the Kravis Center, we’re doing a number of things to increase energy efficiency. With innovative designs, we will cut our energy usage 44% more than minimum LEED® requirements. Our Modular Active Chilled Beams (MAC Beams), which are responsible for cooling the building, plays a key element in reducing energy consumption. After all, typical heating and air conditioning is responsible for about 30% of total energy consumption in the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration (U.S. Government). Utilizing chilled beams will help reduce this number.
Active chilled beams have been used since the early 1990s and have been more prominent in Europe. Unlike traditional air conditioners that force air into the room at the desired temperature, chilled beams are more efficient and quieter because there are no moving parts in the rooms they are cooling. Simply put, warm air rises to the beams, which are similar in size and shape as a light fixture, air is chilled over the coil, so fresh, cool air is disbursed into the room.
Stay tuned as we share more green building innovations used at the Kravis Center.
