Location: 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Total Square Feet: 71,138
Construction Period: Jan 2002 to Mar 2003 

CONSTRUCTION TEAM
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Rycon Construction, Inc. - 2525 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Atlantic Engineering Services - 650 Smithfield Street, #1200, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
ELECTRICAL/MECHANICAL/PLUMBING ENGINEER: H. F. Lenz Company - 1407 Scalp Avenue, Johnstown, PA 15904
COMMISSIONING AGENT: LLI Technologies, Inc. - 808 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
COST ESTIMATOR: Becker & Frondorf - 1500 Walnut Street, #1910, Philadelphia, PA 19102

Carnegie Mellon has made a long-standing commitment to sustainable design, life cycle systems analysis, and quality architecture. As evidence of their green practices approach, New House is the first campus residence hall to be LEED® Certified.

Designed to accommodate 260 first year students, the building is a traditional dormitory with shared bedrooms and common bathrooms. The building contains a recreation room with views to the west lawn, above-grade laundry facilities, exercise room and other traditional support spaces. The building is organized in a cluster concept where every floor houses two student clusters each with their own lounges.

Certified at the Silver level with 36 credits, the facility offers its residents a variety of environmentally friendly amenities ranging from a sophisticated air ventilation system to specially designed high-efficiency washing machines to conserve water use. Site features that are simple to achieve but which contribute to its sustainable design include high albedo paving and roofing materials to reflect light. Over fifty shade and ornamental trees, and other native drought resistant plants were selected to eliminate the need for an irrigation system. The primary structural components of concrete block, precast concrete plank and brick veneer were manufactured within 300 miles of the site.

On the interior, a rigorous indoor air quality program has resulted in a building with far fewer air contaminants, significantly more fresh air, lower CO2 levels, and proper humidity levels. For example, each student room provides the following features: ducted fresh air supply, operable windows, four-pipe individually controlled fan coil units, no VOC paint and no VOC adhesives. Carpet with 50% recycled face yarns, doors and trims with certified cherry veneers, partitions constructed of metal studs with recycled steel and gypsum drywall with 99% recycled content attest to the design teams environmental awareness when specifying materials.

The design of building systems and specified equipment was reviewed by both Carnegie Mellon's in-house engineers and a third party commissioning agency. Working with the A/E team, several options for infrastructure systems were studied. Energy use and life cycle costs were thoroughly analyzed. To secure the LEED credit for Additional Commissioning, CMU hired a third party Commissioning Agent to review documents, equipment installation, testing and operation. In accordance with LEED requirements, a one-year follow up inspection will be conducted.

Additionally Carnegie Mellon invested in various measurement and verification features that will reap benefits by monitoring energy savings, providing early identification of operational problems and providing data for use in campus teaching and research applications. Items that are being measured include fan coil unit power, lighting power, water usage, cooling and heating BTU's per hour. Based on energy modeling done by Carnegie Mellon's Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, New House is expected to use 31% less energy than a similar building that does not employ green principles.

In achieving LEED certification, the General Contractor holds the responsibility for obtaining certain credits. Utilizing a local sorting and recycling center, Rycon Construction was able to develop a waste management plan that was so successful that less than 3% of construction waste was sent to a landfill. By using an off-site sorting and recycling center, only one dumpster was needed on the construction site, thus limiting the site disturbance required for a series of material specific dumpsters.

New House is a prime example of the project team's dedication to designing and constructing a humane building while deploying sustainable practices to bring about healthier environments, energy efficient buildings and noteworthy architecture. New House is a responsibly designed and constructed contextual campus building that is inviting, sensitive to its surroundings and less demanding on our natural resources.

MANUFACTURERS/SUPPLIERS
DIV 07: Fully Adhered PVC Roofing System: GenFlex.
DIV 08: Curtainwalls: Centria; Windows: Wausaw Windows.
DIV 09: Paint: Sherwin Williams.
DIV 14: Elevators: ThyssenKrupp.