LeChase Construction Services, LLC, in partnership with SWBR Architects and FXFOWLE, was recently recognized by Engineering News Record New York for the region's best project in the Green Project category. Thirty-seven winners were chosen in the competition that spans across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The overall Green Project category winner is Rochester Institute of Technology, Golisano Institute for Sustainability (GIS), submitted by LeChase Construction. The institute was designed by FXFOWLE in collaboration with SWBR; LeChase served as the design-build team leader.
The GIS Building is a complex academic research facility with many high-performance design features that make it a unique and spectacular collaborative learning environment - a living laboratory of sustainability that is home to specialized research labs, student work areas, a variety of academic spaces and faculty offices. The 84,000 s/f building is a meaningful part of the GIS curriculum, incorporating sustainable technologies throughout all areas of the building, from the solar panel array on the soaring canopy to the vertical wind turbines located near the entrance. Additional features of the building include a 3,300 s/f vegetated roof, a 40-ft. tall green wall, a 400 kW fuel cell, geothermal well system, and a building microgrid that integrates many of the building energy systems to explore and test energy storage, supply, demand and distribution methodologies. Real-time energy data is displayed on a building dashboard system.
The GIS facility was designed and built to exceed Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum standards of the U.S. Green Building Council—the highest standard that can be achieved. The project has been submitted for review and final certification is expected later this year.
An awards breakfast will take place Nov. 6 in New York City, where the GIS team will accept the award. Tags: