The Archdale Hall renovation is the first of its kind on campus. “This is our first LEED build and it shows our commitment to taking care of the environment and caring about our building’s occupants.” said Guilford’s Operations and Facilities Project Manager Rex Harrell.
The U.S. Green Buildings Council (USGBC), a non-profit corporation out of Washington D.C. developed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. It is a point system of building codes; each code requirement earns the project a point.
The LEED checklist is used during the planning and the building of a project. When the project is completed it is submitted to the USGBC for review and certification. “It could take anywhere up to a year to get the certification process finished.” said Harrell.
Harrell is studying for the LEED Accredited Professional (AP) examination. “Hands down the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life” said Harrell. “You have to know every code off the top of your head.” The project qualifies for another point if the project manager is a LEED AP.
The LEED points are broke up into five categories: sustainable sites and water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, innovation and design, and indoor environmental quality.
The Archdale Hall project has a goal set to earn 39 of those points. The silver certification requires 33-38 points, the gold certification starts at 39 but “everyone that dose these projects plans on losing two or three of those points for something.” said Harrell. That is why you will find silver certified on the sign.
The renovation of Archdale was categoricallyimperative. The General Contractor Mike King of Lomax Construction said “If it hadn’t been done, this building would have started crumbling to the ground.”
“I could reach my hand through the holes in the floor, and touch the beam and it would crumble apart in my hand” said King. The structural wood frame of Archdale Hall was built in the 1870s and the wood beams had been termite damaged.
Along with new support beams the building has received some new state of the art building products: a triple filtered ionized rain water system, a Mitsubishi Split-Ductless heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system, digital environment controls in each office, motion sensing T5 full spectrum lighting, and it is wired with cat6 for gigabit Ethernet and a wireless public network.
The heat, light, and motion sensing digital switches are mounted on the stripped down and newly refinished original plaster walls including the solid wood wainscoting and chair-rails that were found under the 1960s paneling.
The Beech hardwood floors are original materials that were also restored for a materials and recourses point. All of the other solid wood that was added is Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, like the solid wood doors and the faculty’s new custom milled bookcases.
You can find most of the previous Archdale faculty and staff temporarily corralled into little cubicles in room 109 of King Hall. Their anticipation for the move-in date is palatable but most agree the healthy new offices are well worth the wait and inconvenience.
Another less well known live-in member of Archdale Hall, Archie the groundhog, has been missing since the start of the recent renovation project. No one has seen or heard from him since the project began.
Like his human counterparts, Archie may have moved to another building on campus. If you see him please contact Faculty Secretary Janet Wright in the newly renovated Archdale Hall after fall break with any information you might have on his whereabouts.