Faulkner State Community College
Smart building technology creates a healthy environment for study.
Faulkner State Community College’s Borom Building for Health and Allied Sciences was the first building in Alabama’s two-year college system to achieve LEED certification and the first certified green school in Baldwin County, Alabama.
The building itself was designed by Walcott Adams Verneuille Architects with a continuously insulated envelope, using rigid insulation outside the sheathing to eliminate thermal bridging at the metal studs. Highly efficient lighting and mechanical systems also contribute to the projected 38% improvement in building energy performance. The building incorporates several “smart building” technologies to conserve energy and provide a healthier learning environment, including demand control ventilation that brings in outside air only as needed and lights that turn when the building is unoccupied.
As appropriate for a school of health, the stairs inside the building are given a place of prominence to encourage a physically active lifestyle. A central stair is bathed in light from a skylight above, while elevators are tucked away around the corner. All classrooms have generous views into the well landscaped campus, and the building is surrounded by outdoor gathering spaces.
The building’s environmentally friendly footprint extends to the site design. The landscaping will not only create wildlife habitat but also absorb all the runoff from the new building and filter it naturally. Due to the new exfiltration trenches and infiltration swales, more storm water is absorbed on campus after the construction of the new three story building, than before. The campus landscape is designed as an arboretum, with educational signage, and hosts the Borom Bird Festival each fall when migratory birds and butterflies pass through on their way across the Gulf of Mexico.
Key Stats:
$20,000 annual energy savings
CO2 monitoring improves health
sensors turn off lights automatically
building water use reduced 44%
landscape requires no irrigation
low odor, healthier finishes
