The Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences at the University of Rhode Island (URI), Kingston, Rhode Island, has been certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Washington.
The 134,623 square-foot center’s certification is the 11th for buildings at URI.
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is a third-party certification for the design, construction and operation of green buildings.
“The key to LEED Gold for Beaupre is the HVAC equipment and system,” Mark Fisher, senior project manager for Keough Construction Management Inc., Walpole, Massachusetts, and the buyer’s representative for URI on the project. “Because this is a chemistry facility, the HVAC system must bring in 100 percent clean, new air on a constant basis and it must fully exhale the old air. The system cannot recycle the air, which makes managing energy consumption a challenge.”
“LEED Gold is very impressive for a science building, and we have to credit the architect, Wilson Architects Inc. of Boston, for designing such a great teaching, learning and research center that also reflects the value the university places on sustainability,” DePace says.
The building has 172 exhaust hoods and 171 exhaust snorkels that expel hazardous fumes from the building.
Despite the ventilation demands, the system can capture energy, which is used to heat the building in the winter and cool it in the summer. In addition, the exhaust hoods are equipped with sensors that activate them when the teaching and learning laboratories are in use and power them down when they are idle.
“This technology helps us achieve big energy savings,” DePace says.
All lighting in the building is governed by sensors so lights go off when no one is in an office, lab or lecture hall. High-efficiency LED lights illuminate the building’s exterior. The building was constructed using locally sourced materials to minimize fuel consumption related to shipping.
“We used sustainable materials throughout the building,” DePace says. “For instance, we used certified sustainable wood products, and all of the aggregate materials — stone, concrete and processed gravel — were obtained from nearby sources. All construction waste materials were recycled.”
The university required the contractor to segregate all debris and none of it wound up in the Rhode Island Resource Recovery landfill in Johnston, Rhode Island.
The project also includes open space and a rain garden that collects and filters storm runoff before it enters the White Horn Brook watershed.
The $68 million Beaupre Center opened in September 2016. Funded in large part by a $61 million general obligation bond issue approved by Rhode Island voters in the 2010 election, the facility bears the name of alumnus Richard E. Beaupre.
The contractor was Bacon Construction of Rumford, Rhode Island.