Sustainability Chronicle

In April of 2007, College of Alameda completed a $590,000 carpet renovation that replaced aging and mildewed carpet in the Library, Buildings F, G and D. The new carpet is manufactured by Bentley Prince Street, sister company to carpet and rug industry pioneer InterfaceFLOR.

Building	Squard Yards	lbs. CO2	Equivalent Cars
Library	5,605	196,175
Building D	1,227	58,896
Building F	250	20,750
Building G	220	10,560

Former COA President Cecilia Cervantes led a committee that selected carpets in the BPS Cool Carpet line.  Cool Carpet is an energy offset program, which allows the District to permanently retire tons of GHG (greenhouse gases) by its use.  In addition, BPS offers a reclamation program for the existing old carpet and repurposes it or recycles it.  By BPS’s recycling program they are able to divert tons of waste from California’s landfills.

Berkeley City College LEED Certification

In May 2007, Ratcliff Architects, received their initial LEED Certification results for Berkeley City College from the US Green Building Council, the national organization that administers the LEED green building rate system.

Some of sustainability features of the building include:

• Urban Area in-fill development
• Proximity to BART and AC-Transit transfer nodes
• Reduced light-pollution design
• Reflective roofing materials to reduce Heat Island effect
• Low-flow toilets and sinks for water-use reduction of 30% over conventional fixtures
• 60% Energy conservation compared to comparable conventional buildings through improved wall and roof insulation, improved fenestration performance for windows and skylights, lower installed lighting power densities, occupant sensor lighting controls, high efficiency self- contained water cooled units, variable speed pumps, variable speed cooling tower controls with maximum cells operation, improved cooling tower performance, DDC Zone controls for supply air temperature, and fan static pressure reset.
• Diverting over 75% of construction waste from landfill
• Sourcing at least 20% of building materials locally
• Using all FSC-certified wood
• Indoor CO₂ Monitoring
• Use of Low-emittig materials, adhesives sealants, paint, coatings, carpets, wood and laminate adhesives, seating and furniture
• Innovative Design for using on-site water treatment of cooling towers.

According to February 2006 report from Don Dommer, architect for Merritt College’s ‘R’ and ‘P’ buildings, the District would have likely achieve basic LEED certification for the renovation project. Some of the features that would have received the estimated 22-points (21 necessary) include:

• Commitment to use the space for more than 10 years
• Maintaining at least 40% of previous non-structural elements (walls, flooring, ceilings)
• Diverting over 75% of construction waste from landfill
• Using all FSC-certified wood
• Use of Low-emittig materials, adhesives sealants, paint, coatings, carpets, wood and laminate adhesives, seating and furniture
• Using reclaimed building material for 5%-10% of the project
• Using reclaimed or salvaged furniture for at least 30% of the furnishings
• ¼-mile distance from a bus-station
• No-new added parking
• Storage and collection of recyclables

The full report kept by Rosemary Vasquez, Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor of General Services.