New Delta College center receives gold LEED certification

An LEED certification has been awarded to Delta College’s Downtown Midland Center. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environment Design, and Delta has been given its gold level certification.

The LEED system is a rating system that determines how “green” a building is by providing a framework for cost-saving, efficient, and healthy buildings. The designation for Delta’s Midland Center is quite the achievement, as the current LEED guidelines are very stringent. For instance, the LEED version 4 and 4.1 credits for Building Design and Construction New Construction Guide requires a 60 out of 100 possible total points to receive a gold level certification, which is what Delta's Downtown Midland Center was awarded.  

Planning and Construction Manager Anthony Khalil was quoted by Our Midland about the project, saying, “We are excited about achieving the LEED Gold certification level on our Downtown Midland Center. Although this is our second Gold certified project, it is the first time we have achieved it under the newer more stringent requirements. This is a testament to the expertise and care of the Tower Pinkster design team, the dedicated efforts of Spence Brothers Construction, and the hard work of all the trades that participated.”

The Delta College Downtown Midland Center uses 40% less water than a typical building. The building reduces energy consumption through an LED lighting control system, variable speed fans and pumps, high-efficiency boilers, utilizing an outdoor air system, and laboratory exhaust energy recovery.

Khalil talked further about the reasoning behind these design choices: “Indoor air quality and occupant comfort aren’t just LEED benchmarks to us, they’re features that make our facilities healthier places for our students, faculty, staff and community members to be. That is important to us.”

The project reduced the amount of waste sent to landfills by 65%, used more that 75 materials with project declarations, more than 42% of materials from wood products or recycled materials, and more than 50 products with ingredient reports. The quality of the indoor environment was achieved by creating highly controlled lab spaces with exhaust holds, using natural lighting, quality views, and low emitting materials. 

Khalil went on to call Delta College “a leader of innovation,” saying, “It’s important to us that we stay at the forefront of sustainable practices, functioning as responsible stewards of the Earth. Energy and water use reduction are not only good for the environment, they’re also good for our bottom line: helping us to continue being the best value for higher education in our region.”

More information on LEED certification can be found on the website, and more information about Delta College can be found on the school’s website.