Renovated Crispell Hall at New Paltz awarded LEED Gold Certification

NEW PALTZ – Crispell Hall, a student residence building at the State University of New York at New Paltz, was recently awarded LEED Gold Certification for New Construction and Major Renovations, making it the first-ever LEED Gold building on the campus.

The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the accepted benchmark for design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings on SUNY campuses. Buildings constructed to LEED standards are designed to be more efficient with a lower environmental impact.

“SUNY New Paltz is committed to sustainability throughout the campus,” said John Shupe, assistant vice president of facilities management. “We are always striving to reduce our carbon footprint and to find innovative approaches to sustainability. This is our first LEED Gold building on campus, and we are thrilled. I’d like to commend our team for all their terrific work in achieving this milestone.”

The design for Crispell Hall (originally opened in 1968 with 208 beds) was originally formulated with the goal of a LEED Silver rating. Construction began on Dec. 23, 2011, and was completed in just over seven months. Crispell, with its sloped metal roof, bright entrances and creative uses of space, surpassed the criteria for LEED Silver and instead was awarded Gold, which is the second highest possible rating from the USGBC.

“Achieving LEED Gold for the Crispell Hall renovation is a significant achievement for SUNY New Paltz,” said John McEnrue, director of facilities, design and construction. “At minimum we were striving for LEED Silver, but through hard work and collaboration with our dedicated consultants, Architecture + (of Troy, NY) and contractor, Kirchhoff-Consigli Construction Management (of Pleasant Valley, NY) we were able to take it to the next level.”

Many different factors contributed to Crispell’s LEED Gold rating, including:

• Efficient plumbing fixtures to reduce potable water use, including dual-flush toilets
• Recycling during construction, which diverted 98 percent of waste from the landfill
• The use of low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) adhesives, paints and wood products to achieve superior indoor air quality
• Twenty-two percent post- and pre-consumer building materials
• Twenty-five percent of building materials manufactured and extracted within 500 miles of the college
• Sixty-three percent of wood-based materials harvested from Forest Stewardship Council-certified forests
• Metal roof with high solar reflectance value
• Improvement of the building’s thermal envelope, reduction in intensity of interior lighting and use of energy recovery in the mechanical design, resulting in energy cost savings of 28 percent

“This is the icing on top of a project that was already heralded as a success for its extremely tight renovation timeline and its overall design,” said McEnrue. “Most importantly, of course, is the fact that our students love the new Crispell Hall. It is now the most heavily sought after residential hall on our campus.”

The renovation of Crispell Hall was administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). Since 2008, DASNY has required that all new construction, addition, or significant renovations on SUNY campuses must include a goal of LEED Silver and be fully submitted to the USGBC. Crispell is the second DASNY renovation project to receive the LEED Gold rating.