Updated 11/30/03

USM is working to make the new Community Education Center (to be completed in 2004) a model of environmentally sustainable architecture. Primary features include geothermal heating and the latest in energy efficient lighting. As befits the building's location on a university campus, it will also be used to educate building users about environmental issues. The lobby will house a large wall dedicated to interactive educational displays. Themes for these displays may include readouts of the building's energy consumption (with side-by-side comparisons to traditional buildings), the building's impact on local air quality, or information about global population and climate change. These complex issues are all interrelated and this display will attempt to illustrate some of the linkages.

When completed, USM believes the Community Education Center will achieve a rating of silver from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

For more information about Green Buildings and LEED certification, please visit:
U.S. Green Building Council
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

Check out these inspirational green buildings:
or visit the U.S. Department of Energy's Green Buildings Database.

Notable Features: no mechanical cooling, minimal supplemental heating, strong daylighting, open space preservation, indigenous vegetation, drought-tolerant landscaping, massing and orientation, passive solar, on-site renewable electricity, durability, non-toxic & recycled materials, connection to outdoors, natural ventilation.

Notable Features: combined heat and power system, storm water management, performance measurement and verification, transportation benefits, indigenous vegetation, efficient fixtures and appliances, efficient irrigation, drought-tolerant landscaping, massing and orientation, airtightness, passive solar, lighting control and daylight harvesting, on-site renewable electricity, cogeneration, durability, non-toxic materials, recycled materials, local materials, waste management, occupant recycling, daylighting, natural ventilation, moisture control, thermal comfort.

Notable Features: LEED Gold, energy efficiency, daylighting, recycled carpet, agricultural fiber board, storm water management

Steinhude Sea Recreation Facility
Randall Stout Architects
Los Angeles, Calif.

Notable Features: energy self sufficient, PV, seed oil fueled combined heat and power system, solar water heating, passive solar, daylighting, graywater

The buildings have been located to tuck into the land. They demonstrate heavy and light construction types and their impact on energy efficiency, configuration, orientation, shade, and light are all capitalized to provide natural environmental support systems. These systems include: air movement through convection, reflected light through clerestories and light shelves, heat sinks adjacent to south-facing glass, and cooling through massive buried concrete walls. Building materials have been selected for sustainability. Solar panels provide domestic hot water and heat for forced air. Reclaimed water supplies aquaculture ponds and rooftop and site irrigation, talapia and water hyacinths are grown for food, and compost fertilizes crops for food. A solar park generates electricity, and power is provided by a co-generation plant located on the adjacent landfill.