| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 75.15 |
| Liaison | Lori Collins-Hall |
| Submission Date | March 5, 2021 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
Sterling College (VT)
OP-4: Building Design and Construction
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.36 / 3.00 |
Kelly
Jones Manager Buildings and Grounds |
Total floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space (include projects completed within the previous five years) :
Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified Living under the Living Building Challenge:
Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified at each level under a rating system for design and construction used by an Established Green Building Council (GBC) :
| Certified Floor Area | |
| LEED BD+C Platinum or at the highest achievable level under another rating system | 0 Square feet |
| LEED BD+C Gold or at the 2nd highest level under another 4- or 5-tier GBC rating system | 0 Square feet |
| Certified at mid-level under a 3- or 5-tier GBC rating system for design and construction (e.g. BREEAM, CASBEE, DGNB, Green Star) | 0 Square feet |
| LEED BD+C Silver or at a step above minimum level under another 4- or 5-tier GBC rating system | 0 Square feet |
| LEED BD+C Certified or certified at minimum level under another GBC rating system | 0 Square feet |
Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified under a non-GBC rating system for design and construction (e.g. Green Globes NC, Certified Passive House):
Percentage of newly constructed or renovated building space certified under a green building rating system for design and construction:
A brief description of the green building rating system(s) used and/or a list of certified buildings and ratings:
Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space that is NOT certified, but that was designed and constructed in accordance with published green building guidelines and policies:
A copy of the green building guidelines or policies :
The green building guidelines or policies:
Sterling College will have well-maintained facilities appropriate to the aspirations of our community, our curriculum, and our values including environmental stewardship. To sustain such a campus will require that the College develop adequate funds to maintain and repair its facilities, equipment, tools, and other physical resources. The campus will be integrated into the community of Craftsbury Common and will present an appealing appearance to our neighbors with whom we will seek to share our resources.
Specifically, the College will endeavor to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and will commit to increasingly live by its commitment to environmental stewardship.
c) Objective: Make our worst facilities our best and most efficient facilities first, and thereby lift the whole campus.
d) Objective: Adapt our relationship to automobiles and where we park them.
i) Implementation: A five-year campus master plan will be developed to include both the current campus footprint and potential purchased properties. (1 through 5)
(i) Establish solar and non-fossil fuel sources of energy as the means of lighting and heating our campus, and invest in renovations that place efficiency as a top priority.
(ii) Paradise Hall Renovation
1. Create improved space for the visual arts, including woodworking, fiber arts, ceramics, public presentation space, and space for the Environmental Humanities curricular area.
(iii) Dunbar & Kane Hall Renovation
1. Develop new space for student activities/social activities and improved faculty and staff offices.
2. Improve the kitchen to meet modern professional culinary standards, and improve our ability to use it as an instructional space.
3. Improve the dining hall with natural lighting, better acoustics, and easier flow of people.
(iv) Simpson Hall Renovation
1. Create a new and/or renovated chemistry laboratory, and improve all teaching spaces.
2. Improve Simpson III as a public space and large classroom.
(v) Build a new Ecology resource center that offers an appropriate and appealing teaching space and location for coursework and natural history collections.
(vi) Build a new Outdoor Education facility, including a yurt and a new indoor climbing facility.
(vii) Develop an agriculture center, including potential purchase of additional land, addition of power system and hot water, a new draft horse and other facilities, and the renovation of the current barns.
(viii) Add additional new structures to serve as maintenance and storage facilities.
(ix) Add on-campus housing for faculty and students with partners and/or families.
(x) Renovate Madison Hall and Houston Hall and add better and roughly equivalent social spaces for students in each hall.
(xi) Provide access to Sterling’s Bear Swamp preservation land in Wolcott, Vermont.
(xii) Reorganize and potentially reduce automobile parking on campus.
(Strategic Plan)
Do the green building guidelines or policies cover the following?:
| Yes or No | |
| Impacts on the surrounding site (e.g. guidelines to reuse previously developed land, protect environmentally sensitive areas, and otherwise minimize site impacts) | Yes |
| Energy consumption (e.g. policies requiring a minimum level of energy efficiency for buildings and their systems) | No |
| Building-level energy metering | No |
| Use of environmentally preferable materials (e.g. guidelines to minimize the life cycle impacts associated with building materials) | Yes |
| Indoor environmental quality (i.e. guidelines to protect the health and comfort of building occupants) | No |
| Water consumption (e.g. requiring minimum standards of efficiency for indoor and outdoor water use) | No |
| Building-level water metering | No |
A brief description of the green building guidelines or policies and/or a list or sample of buildings covered:
As with building operations and maintenance, Sterling College believes in obtaining and renovating structures and maintaining the energy and value contained within them. As environmental stewards, Sterling believes that renovated structures and building very few new structures with only locally harvested materials is more beneficial to the environment and community than obtaining third party verification and certification.
Sterling College has committed to this practices in it's strategic plan. Included below are statements from the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan:
"Sterling College will have well-maintained facilities appropriate to the aspirations of our community, our curriculum, and our values including environmental stewardship. To sustain such a campus will require that the College develop adequate funds to maintain and repair its facilities, equipment, tools, and other physical resources. The campus will be integrated into the community of Craftsbury Common and will present an appealing appearance to our neighbors with whom we will seek to share our resources.
Specifically, the College will endeavor to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and will commit to increasingly live by its commitment to environmental stewardship.
Goal: To restore and renovate the campus so that all buildings are efficient and attractive and serve the needs of the community and a population of approximately 120 students."
A brief description of how the institution ensures compliance with green building design and construction guidelines and policies:
As with building operations and maintenance, Sterling College's governance mostly purchases used buildings and renovates them. When new buildings are constructed, materials are harvested on site and planned so that the least amount of non-local resources are used as possible.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.