Lauer-Manguso & Associates Architects led the LEED movement in NYS with the design of UB's Creekside Village Community Center, which has become a study in energy efficiency.
This University of Buffalo energy-efficient certified building contains a student lounge, offices, maintenance, and a mall center. Michael Terranova, A.I.A. of Lauer-Manguso, one of the designers for the building, said, "Green buildings will usually cost more initially to build, but over the life of a building the operations costs are lower. It's not just the construction costs to consider, there is also a cost to get the building certified."
The center features environmentally friendly materials (many of which include recycled content), non-chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which affect the ozone layer, refrigerants in the air conditioning system, and low-volatile organic compounds (VOC) coatings for the walls and floors.
For energy conservation, setting them low into earth berms insulated some walls, a decorative indoor pond contributes indoor humidity, and the sun powers much of the outdoor lighting. Special controls turn off the electric lights when no one is in a room and the lights can be adjusted to the amount of light available so that natural light can be better utilized. "Some energy-efficient buildings emphasize electrical savings while others concentrate on heating savings, so the initial costs vary from project to project," Terranova said. "The Creekside Village Community Center is a combination of both."
Creekside Village features 13 two-story buildings with 102 two-bedroom townhouses and 14 ranch-style units located at the north edge of the University of Buffalo Amherst campus. This green community center provides a beautiful and peaceful environment for study, privacy, and the stimulation of a community of shared interests. The LEED green building rating system is a voluntary, consensus-basded national standard for developing high-performance sustainable buildings.
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