Ivy Tech CWED Grand Opening

November 5, 2009 marked the grand opening of the Ivy Tech Community College Center for Workforce and Economic Development in Greencastle, Indiana. InterDesign served as the architect of record, Demonica Kemper Architects served as the Programming Architect. The project started out as a 100,000 SF, $20M project, but the State reduced the budget to $8.2M. Private donations increased the total budget to about $8.7M. Needless to say, the building is considerably smaller than what was needed, so the program was divided into two phases and the site master planned to allow for future expansion. Now complete, the total gross area is 33,170 SF with a construction cost of $6,595,179. Construction was overseen by the Construction Manager Geupel DeMars Hagerman and was completed four months ahead of schedule.

The CWED is also the first Ivy Tech building to apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification. To achieve the certification, InterDesign worked with the design architect to identify and implement several sustainable features, including:

Xeriscaping: Plants utilized were chosen for their hardiness, drought tolerance, and adaptability to soil type and sun exposure. 13 of the 15 species specified are native to Indiana and are well-suited to the soil type, climate and hydrology, contributing to water conservation and no need for irrigation.

Dark sky lights: Dark Sky Cutoff Parking Luminaires are ones that cut glare and prevent light to trespass that will reduce sky glow and thus will not have wasted energy. Essentially glare, light trespass and sky glow are components of energy being wasted for outdoor lighting.

Low-E Glazing: Specially designed coatings, often based on metallic oxides, are applied to one or more surfaces of insulated glass. These coatings reflect radiant infrared energy, thus tending to keep radiant heat on the same side of the glass from which it originated. This often results in more efficient windows because: radiant heat originating from indoors is reflected back inside, thus keeping heat inside in the winter, and infrared radiation from the sun is reflected away, keeping it cooler inside in the summer.

Daylighting: Using natural light from the sun costs nothing to the environment but pays big dividends to building occupants. The result is a compelling, efficient lighting solution that also protects the environment. By consuming less energy, day lit buildings reduce fossil fuel use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming and climate change.

Shading Devices: Exterior shading devices work well to both reduce heat gain and diffuse natural light before entering the building, improving user visual comfort by controlling glare and reducing contrast ratios.
Use of fixed overhangs on south-facing glass controls direct beam solar radiation. Indirect (diffuse) radiation is controlled by other measures, such as low-e glazing.

Low/No VOCs: VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) contribute to sick building syndrome. Many building materials such as paints, adhesives, wall boards, and ceiling tiles emit formaldehyde, which irritates the mucous membranes and can make a person irritated and uncomfortable. All materials used in the building had low or no VOCs.

Cool Roofing: Roof materials with high reflectance, or high albedo, can reflect up to 85% of incident solar radiation compared to non-reflective materials which may reflect only 20%. The selected roof system is a fully adhered white TPO.