Community College of Vermont Winooski Campus Sustainability Goal

							Community College of Vermont
Winooski Campus
Sustainability Goal Setting Meeting
Meeting held February 27, 2008

The meeting included members of the CCV community students, faculty, staff and
administration as well as members of the design team architects, engineers, other consultants.
A list of attendees is included at the end of the document.

Jennifer Chiodo of Cx Associates facilitated the meeting and started by offering several
definitions for the concept of sustainability including:

       Sustainability can be defined as meeting the needs of current generations without
       compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

       The Earth Institute incorporates the ideas of social justice and democratic ideals with
       environmental rehabilitation and protection to safeguard human rights, community
       wellbeing and the regenerative capacity of the Earth.

       Sustainable buildings have a net positive impact on the community, occupants and the
       environment. Sustainable building practices consider:
               Site
               Construction resources
               Operational resources including energy
               Indoor environmental quality
               Other areas where innovation expands sustainability

The meeting objective was to establish goals that will guide the team in maximizing the CCV
Winooski Campus s positive impacts on occupants, community and the environment.

We intentionally did not discuss the use of the US Green Building Council s Leadership in
Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) rating system for this building until the end of the
session. The building has been registered with LEED and has a goal of a Silver Rating. The
next meeting will apply the information in today s session to identifying which LEED credits
that we will seek to achieve and identify the responsible party for each credit.

These notes are intended to include all of the content discussed in the meeting. The transcription
from the flip charts in available as a separate document on our website.



                                                                                    110 Main Street
                                                                                          Studio 1B
                                                                              Burlington, VT 05401
                                                                                      802.861.2715
CCV Winooski                                              Sustainability Meeting Notes 2/27/08

Goals
The group brainstormed goals and criteria for project success. All ideas were captured on flip
charts and are documented at the end of these notes. We then struggled to condense the goals to
enable people to rank them. Each attendee was given 3 votes and the three highest ranked
overarching goals were:

         Provide maximum levels of indoor environmental comfort & health (12)
        Sustainability and affordability are fully integrated through the process (8)
             Promote engaged minds and bodies; cognitive programming (7)

The process was imperfect due to the need to condense many diverse ideas in a short time period.
The following attempts to organize the brainstormed goals with the relevant condensed goals.
We have identified and grouped the goals with apparent links under goal headings. Some of the
supporting goals are listed in multiple categories.

Provide an Optimal Indoor Environment
There were many goals relating to ensuring the quality, functionality and adaptability of the
indoor environment:

Provide Maximum levels of indoor environmental comfort and health and a
functional, flexible user oriented environment
        Student friendly study spaces
        Good color choices and visual appeal
        Plan for future CCV community; adjustable class sizes
        Adaptable building
        Good acoustics; conducive to learning
        Quiet indoors
        Natural Light
        Meaningful artwork
        Healthy indoor materials
           o No vinyl
        Operable windows
        Comfortable indoor environment
        People friendly
        Handicap accessible
        Trash and recycling facilities are integrated into the design
        Address flight path acoustic impacts
        Connect w/outdoors via views
        Good indoor air quality
        Allow for use of future technologies




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CCV Winooski                                            Sustainability Meeting Notes 2/27/08
Integrate Sustainability and Affordability
There was a strong interest in achieving the mutual goals of affordability and sustainability
through an open and integrated process. There was also discussion of how this building provides
an opportunity to demonstrate how sustainability and affordability are mutually achievable to
enable others with constrained budgets to incorporate sustainability into their construction
projects.

Sustainability and affordability are fully integrated throughout the process
        Encourage student involvement in project
        Maintain complete transparency throughout the process, provide easily available project
        information
        Ensure sustainability isn t an add on


Foster Sustainable Life Choices
One of the students introduced the idea of cognitive programming to the group (for example we
could encourage vertical transitions via stairs by making the stairs central, open and inviting;
elevators should be less conspicuous). There were goals around this objective as well as
ensuring the building fosters the engagement of the mind and body and that the building teaches
about and encourages sustainability while recognizing the respect that CCV students show for
their learning environment.

Promote engaged minds and bodies; use cognitive programming; Teaching
building; Occupants benefit from the building and have their commitment to
environment and building recognized
        Make sure people are aware of their footprint
        Encourage the community created by the building
        Minimize resource waste in building operation
           o For example use pay-as-you-go printing to discourage wasteful printing
        Encourage walking and stair use
        Maximize the use of alternative transportation
        Edible/medicinal landscaping
        Reinforce accountability as citizens
        Cognitive programming
        Building teaches people
           o Display how building has reduced carbon footprint
           o Display real time impacts of building operations
        Teach the building to staff and students/Engender an understanding of how building
        works
           o Enable users to know how the building is intended to perform
           o Empower people to identify and help resolve performance issues
        Include improvement technologies in the curriculum




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CCV Winooski                                                Sustainability Meeting Notes 2/27/08
        Foster spirit to honor the building
        Cultivate vigorous activity
          o Keep energy levels up in classrooms (one idea was to have a standing classroom)
          o Outdoor class/meeting space
        Landscape for teaching and use
        Edible and medicinal landscaping

Use Sustainable Resources, Energy, Water, Operations and
Maintenance Practices
There were many ideas presented in the goal and strategy discussions about the opportunities to
apply sustainable practices in the design and construction of the building and site as well as
ensuring the longevity of the building s sustainability through maintenance and operations.

Maximize use of sustainable resources; Adopt sustainable and transparent
maintenance and operations practices; Maximize energy efficiency; Minimize
potable water use and water impacts through water management; Minimize
resources and construction/demolition impacts; Use renewable energy
        Environmentally friendly maintenance
        Good maintenance training
        Use natural light
        Wind power
        Use all available means for energy generation
        Energy efficiency small and large scale
        Transparent building operation
        Use all natural materials
        Water reuse
        Utilize sunlight
        Maintain or improve water quality
        Manage storm water quality
        Generate the energy needed on site
        Maximize resource reuse
        Minimize impact of construction and demolition
        Do not use any fossil fuels in building operation
        Maintain a low carbon footprint
        Use natural ventilation
        Use free cooling
        Building systems are maintainable and simple

Create a Beautiful Building Integrated into the Environment and
Community

These goals were not linked during the discussion but they appear to be linked to objectives of a
building with a positive impact on the community and its adjacent environment. The specific




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CCV Winooski                                            Sustainability Meeting Notes 2/27/08
goal of creating a beautiful building was stated with the example given of Vermont towns are
beautiful where mid-western towns are not.

Create a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing building; Integrate the exterior and
interior of the building; maximize the positive impacts of the building on the
community
        Provide indoor/outdoor spaces
        Ensure it is quiet outside the building (especially that mechanical equipment does not
        provide noise pollution)
        Provide edible/medicinal landscaping
        Allow public to use building resources (library; computer labs etc.)
        Foster community engagement
        Create a fuzzy boundary between the interior and exterior
           o Indoor plantings
           o Outdoor classrooms
        Responsible Landscaping
        Integrate outdoor space with building
        Landscaping with minimal impact
        Neighbor friendly
        Create a beautiful building
        Aesthetic integration of building into surroundings
        Work with the environment
        Support good outdoor air quality
        Provide usable outdoor space
        Have a positive impact on Winooski
        Minimize the impacts of construction and demolition on surrounding areas.


Criteria for Success
We also brainstormed criteria for success. The concept of this portion of the meeting was to
identify some potential metrics with which the team and community can evaluate the project
results. The question posed to the group was: One year after the building is complete, how will
we know that we have achieved our goals. The ideas for metrics include:

        Complete on schedule
        Minimal neighbor complaints
        Excited faculty and students
        Know percentage of occupants who drive to the facility (and work to reduce percentage
        over time)
        No underutilized spaces
        Minimal comfort complaints
        People are proud of the building and site (participants in the design, construction,
        occupants and community)
        Increased enrollment




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CCV Winooski                                              Sustainability Meeting Notes 2/27/08
        Low utility bills
        High/improved academic performance
        On budget
        No increased cost to students, faculty or community
        Self-sustaining building
        Maintain accountability (accountability for affordability and sustainability)
        Ensure sustainable goals are core of project


Strategies for Achieving Goals
We broke into four groups to discuss strategies the teams could use to achieve the highest ranked
condensed goals.

One groups specifically focused on how to establish a process that would be open and inclusive.
They recommend that we implement an ongoing communication process to create a feedback
loop on the project (to include students, staff, public and the project team). The idea of creating
an interdisciplinary group involved in the design and construction process resonated with the
group.

Other groups developed strategies specific to the design and construction.

Materials
        Disallow use of unhealthy materials
        Specify referenced healthy sustainable materials
        Minimize use of carpeting
        Use of green carpeting in classrooms (noise reduction)
        Tiles flooring surfaces repair damage easily
        Polished concrete
Fresh air
        Operable windows
        Safety on upper floors
        IAQ
        Systems for bringing in fresh air
        CO2 monitoring
        Vestibule entrances (pressurized)
Light
        Occupied spaces should have access to natural light; group unoccupied spaces
        (mechanical rooms, restrooms etc in areas toward interior)
        Day lighting
        Responsive lighting controls (proper occupancy sensor placement, automatic dimming of
        light fixtures when natural light available)
        Perimeter lighting control
        Indirect lighting
        Quality of light
        Solar tubes to let exterior light in




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CCV Winooski                                               Sustainability Meeting Notes 2/27/08
        Minimize light pollution (from indoors for nighttime occupancy)
        Reflective surfaces
        Diffused Lighting
        Multiple level controls/task lighting
        Clear stories, sky lights, light shafts
        Minimize use of artificial light during daytime hours
        Address concerns about impacts of artificial light (in particular fluorescent ltg)
Noise
        Noise resistant windows (triple glazed)
        Absorptive materials
        Quiet mechanical systems (mechanical rooms in center)
Temperature
        Increase user control
        Automated sensor that respond to light
        Environmental conditions/building state
Activity/Well being
        Stairwells are lighted, obvious, easy to access
        Easily washable surfaces
        Environmentally friendly cleaning products.
        Ergonomics
        Ergonomic furniture
        Single occupant unisex bathroom on each floor
Aesthetics
        Display space for students work & art
        Color interior spaces
        Employ muted colors that are more conducive to long term occupancy
        Indoor plants
        Reduce 90% angles
        Rounded corners
        Break up building from being monolithic (make it look like multiple buildings)
        Wood
        Attractive entrance
        Add set backs to façade
        Focus on details
Technology
        Living machines
        Indoor planted areas
        Oxygen generation
        Wastewater treatment
        Green roofs
        Proven systems
        Access research available
        Incorporate maintenance requirements into finish/material selection
Adaptability
        Technological changes




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CCV Winooski                                            Sustainability Meeting Notes 2/27/08
       Permanent mission statement
       Real time tracking of building performance
Consider exposed utilities
       Noise
       Improved maintenance
Energy/Water Efficiency
       Energy recovery on ventilation systems
       GSHP-Geothermal energy and/or renewable fuels
       Rainwater recovery
       Low use fixtures
       Real time building performance tracking
Buy local
       Local contractors
       Local materials

As noted above, the next sustainability meeting will apply the information from this session to
select the LEED credits that best correspond with the project goals and strategies. The meeting
will be held in mid-March.

Attendee Names & Affiliation

Tom O'Brien, Northern Architects
Jennifer Chiodo, Cx Associates
Matthew Napolitan, Cx Associates
Rebekah Pepin
Lauren Brabazon
Elmer Kimball, CCV
Linda Adamson
Janice Couture
Marcelia Curran
Yasmine Ziesler
Tiko Roth
Jeanie Williams
Gregory Liebert, Liebert Engineering
Dave Marshall, Civil Engineering Associates
Doug Crowell, H. Keith Wagner Partnership
David Slade, Liebert Engineering
David Davidson
Barbara Martin, CCV
Eveline Killian, Efficiency Vermont
Denise Quick, CCV
Kimberly Killian, Northern Architects




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