DMR designed West Hall, the new, 32,000 square foot Enrollment Services Center at Middlesex College.
During the design, addressing sustainable design elements in an efficient and fiscally-conservative way was critically important and was at the forefront of design discussions. Having previously received LEED Silver certification for a different DMR-designed facility on campus, designing for Gold certification was a primary goal from the beginning of the project. This was particularly important in regard to energy efficiency, indoor environmental air quality, site lighting, the storm water management plan and the planting plan.
The design also took advantage of the southern exposure for faculty and staff offices, and provides ambient, glare free northern exposure for the multipurpose room and student services lobbies. Through this project, the College also preserved and restored more than 75,000 square feet of outdoor open space to create a socially and environmentally engaging place for passive recreation, and to encourage students, visitors and faculty to interact with nature. The Ecological Park connects West Hall to other campus buildings.
Additional elements at West Hall included specialized technology to monitor the efficiency of the building, occupancy sensors in each room, a highly reflective elastomeric roof coating, and low VOC materials. In the end, water use in West Hall reduced 34% from a standard design through low-flow fixtures, waterless urinals and sink faucets. Energy use reduced 24.7% through efficient, correctly-sized mechanical equipment. 75.7% of 116.25 tons of construction debris was diverted from landfill disposal and 33% of materials were manufactured locally to reduce emissions during transport. Educational signage throughout the building indicates these type of sustainable facts, further educating the students, faculty and visitors who frequent the facility.
Shortly after West Hall achieved LEED Gold, a second new construction project on campus also achieved LEED Gold, making Middlesex College the first community college in New Jersey to have two LEED Gold facilities on campus.