“We’ve done some things heating and cooling wise that should pay big dividends for years,” says Askerlund. “We’ve gone to an evaporative, indirect-direct system, it’s called an IDEC system, which uses basically evaporative cooling in 90 to 95 percent of the cooling season. Salt Lake is very favorable to evaporative cooling based on our dry climate.”
When CAM was being designed, the initial intent was have it earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification.
“We don’t have certification on the building, but the standard is still very high, so we anticipate a relatively efficient building from an energy standpoint. One example is the HVAC, but another is the lighting. Of course, we have energy efficient lighting throughout the project,” says Askerlund.
Users of the building should readily see in classrooms and offices automatic motion sensors to switch off lighting when rooms are not in use and controls for varying instructional methods. Automatic dimmers for fixtures near windows offer additional energy saving benefits when rooms are used daylight hours and less artificial light is required.
According to Askerlund, the decision not to file for LEED was because of the additional costs to apply for certification and the complexity of adding to an existing building.
“It was a remodel, so it was given an exception in the State design realm. It would have had to fall under [the] Existing Building [category] because we remodeled much more than we built,” says Askerlund. “The overlap areas in the building are very difficult to deal with on a LEED Certification Existing Building. We do have a fairly tight building envelope, although it wasn’t tested for tightness. It is similar to our other LEED buildings that we have tested for tightness.”
Having LEED Certification for CAM would have added to SLCC’s list of other LEED buildings, such as the new Instruction and Administration Building at Taylorsville-Redwood Campus, and the Health Science Center at Jordan Campus.
