Science construction will lack "green" design

By Drew Swan

In 2001, Yale will replace Science Hill's Bingham Laboratory with a new home for the environmental sciences. But as Yale wraps up the planning process, some question whether the building's construction will reflect the lessons taught within its walls.

PATRICK MCGARVEY/YH YSEC has urged Yale to promote eco-friendly construction when it replaces Bingham Lab in 2001.

The building, partially funded by a $20 million donation from Edward Bass, SY '67, ART '72, will house research facilities, offices, and classrooms for the geology, chemistry, forestry, and biology departments. The facility will be used to study environmental issues and to find solutions to these problems.

This week, the Yale Student Environmental Coalition (YSEC) released a preliminary draft of its Green Plan, which examines the environmental consciousness of Yale's current building practices. In the report, YSEC urges the Yale Corporation to make the new facility a world-class example of an environmentally-conscious design. The group encouraged planners to use "green" construction technology, which uses highly efficient appliances, renewable materials, solar energy, and strategic landscaping to create environmentally-friendly buildings.

"Less toxic materials is just less bad. The goal is zero," William McDonough, ARCH '76, said. McDonough has designed several green buildings all over the world, including Oberlin College's environmental sciences facility. McDonough challenged Yale to take the lead in environmentally-friendly construction. "If setting examples and taking risks isn't what a university is all about, I don't know what is," he said.

Everett Meyer, SY '98, YSEC's Green Plan coordinator, agreed. "We are grateful for this new building, where we can do real environmental research; however, we felt this new facility was a great opportunity to build a flagship of modern environmentalism," he said.

According to Meyer, last fall the Administration told YSEC that the design process was near completion. Deputy Provost Pierre Hohenberg explained that the building's scientific purpose must be given highest priority. An office building can serve the public function of being an "environmental flagship," but a scientific facility cannot, Hohenberg said.

Gordon Geballe, assistant dean at the School of Forestry, stressed the immediate need for new laboratory spaces on Science Hill. While he supports environmentally sound building methods, Geballe said that Yale should not slow the building process to develop a new, greener design. "A lot could be done in greening up the building in this time frame," he said.

The task of greening Yale's environmental science building is further complicated by the fact that it will also contain much of the Peabody Museum's collection. To adequately protect these artifacts, the new building will include extensive air-conditioning units, which consume large amount of electricity, Hohenberg said.

Hohenberg added that architecture professor Donald Watson is serving as an environmental consultant on the design team. Professor Watson could not be reached for comment.

Another major obstacle to promoting green construction is that Yale does not require its contractors to recycle or reuse building materials in its building contracts. Arch Currie, director of the Office of Facilities, explained, "We try to tread cautiously in building contracts." Currie said such permissiveness is a standard practice, because if Yale specified terms of disposal it would be liable in the case of any legal infraction.

Not all schools follow this rule, however. Brown University requires in its contracts that construction firms try to recycle or reuse all building material waste before disposing of them in landfills, Brown's environmental coordinator Kurt Teichert said. Recycling firms pay the contractor for materials received, which reduces the overall expense of the project. Teichert said that "in [his] experience, there is less cost for jobs" in which the contractors recycle and reuse materials.

Brown has also already tackled the issues of cost-effective green design with the W. Duncan MacMillan Hall, a science facility now under construction with functions and goals similar to Yale's planned building. Teichert conceded that the requirements of a science facility--such as large ventilation hoods, climate control, and large classrooms--use enormous amounts of energy. But he emphasized that even a small decrease in energy consumption can equal big savings.

Although the plans for Yale's environmental science building's plans are almost complete, the Administration would accept "further input" on the design, according to Hohenberg. While the exterior plan is final, in the interior, "lots of things are open for discussion," he said.

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