Penn’s new college house will be fit to follow the University’s new environmentally-friendly guidelines.
In keeping with the University’s sustainability guide , Penn’s Climate Action Plan 2.0, announced in late October, all new Penn buildings should attempt to meet LEED silver standard of building sustainability. The new college house is on track to meet LEED’s gold standard, second only to platinum, said Michael Dausch, executive director of design and construction for facilities and real estate services.
The building will have a series of green roofs that will collect 95 percent of storm water, energy recovery units, high efficiency lighting and air conditioning units.
In addition to being a sustainable building, the development itself is also highly sustainable. 75 percent of the construction waste is recycled.
Although President Gutmann previously expressed her desire to name the building after a major donor, Penn has yet to officially announce the college house’s name.
“We will announce the name at an appropriate time in the future,” Vice President for University Communications Stephen McCarthy said.
The University began construction on Hill Field last November and will open in August 2016. The 198,000 square foot building is expected to house 350 undergraduate students and 15 faculty members.
The new dorm will temporarily house only freshman, while the University closes Hill College House for renovations, and will transition into a four year house in 2017. The project is estimated to cost $125 million.
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled FRES E xecutive director of design and construction Mike Dausch's name.
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