HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah (Jan. 18, 2013) – The new child development center became the first LEED-certified project at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, receiving the official designation of LEED-Silver during a ceremony Jan. 10. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District oversaw construction of the facility. Under the LEED program, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, projects are recognized for efficient design and construction in categories including sustainable sites; water efficiency; energy and atmosphere; materials and resources; indoor environmental quality; and innovation in design.
The 36,000-square-foot facility was designed and constructed at a cost of $10.2 million, and received an official “Outstanding” performance evaluation from the installation. The facility was formally handed over to the installation in April 2012.
The designation for the facility was achieved even without many of the common LEED design and construction credits – primarily due to the specialized nature of the project such as the specific site designation and the constrained confines of Hill AFB. Mandatory facility requirements for a child care facility include increased intensity of lighting, a prohibition against dimmable or occupancy sensing lighting, specific outdoor playground requirements and other mandatory security and ventilation features.
In order to achieve LEED-Silver, the design and construction of the facility had to provide additional credits from other project categories such increased water efficiency and the use of low-emitting materials such as composite wood. The contractor for the project, HHI Corporation, used these additional categories to create a LEED-certifiable design and documented results from them to help obtain the official LEED-Silver designation.
(Editor's note: Bob Smith of HHI Corporation contributed to this article)