Benton Hall Career Service Building, Colgate University

This LEED Platinum building instituted ambitious energy-saving technologies to uphold Colgate University’s goals for a carbon neutral campus. Designed with the wellness of students and faculty in mind, Atelier Ten led the team towards their sustainability goals that incorporated Passive House design standards.

Atelier Ten managed all aspects of Sustainability and Lighting Design for the construction of Benton Hall. The building was designed from day one with sustainable construction methods, materials, and long-term energy conservation in mind.

The exterior envelope was designed to passive house standards with thick insulated walls and roof, and triple-glazed windows. Atelier Ten investigated detailed envelope construction options to ensure low infiltration and ultra-insulation. These features increase the building’s resilience during outages and optimizes occupant comfort. The exterior envelope paired with an efficient lighting design system significantly contributes to the project’s 59% reduction in energy and 52% energy cost savings.

Benton Hall was built with 75% of the construction waste recycled or salvaged, and with materials in the project sourced from within 500 miles of the site, including blue stone from Ithaca. Native and adaptive plants were incorporated to sustain typical periods of drought and preserve natural habitat on campus. The design reduced potable water consumption by 43%, achieved through installation of low-flow, water conserving fixtures and submetering.

Benton Hall serves as a living laboratory with educational dispalys featuring the sustainability strategies and interactive dashboards exhibiting the building’s real time use of energy, water and carbon. The project also developed a Measurement & Verification plan which enables continuous performance improvements.

The focus on sustainable site, stormwater management, energy performance, the use of regional materials and excellent indoor air quality goals greatly contributed to the LEED Platinum certification, a first for the campus.