The following is the text of a news release from W.T. Rich:
(NEWTON and BUZZARDS BAY, Mass.) — Massachusetts Maritime Academy's modernization project has received LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
W.T. Rich constructed at the Mass. Maritime Academy an $18.7 million, 43,000-square-foot library, known as the American Bureau of Shipping Information Commons, with unique architectural features including limestone veneer, glass flooring at stair landings, a rooftop skylight that runs the entire length of the building, a large rotunda encased in architectural woodwork, a rooftop solar photovoltaic array, and much more. The project also includes over 50 geothermal wells for heating and air conditioning.
Platinum is the highest level of LEED certification. A building must receive at least 80 out of 110 points to achieve this status. A large number of sustainable design features were evaluated and incorporated into the final design, including water conservation, light sensors, chilled beams, geothermal energy system, radiant floor heating, rapidly renewable materials, and materials with a high recycled content.
According to the US Green Building Council's website, LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a certification system that "provides independent, third-party verification that a building, home or community was designed and built using strategies aimed at achieving high performance in key areas of human and environmental health: Sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality."
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Capital Asset Management and Maintenance (DCAMM) funded and managed the project, and Perry Dean Rogers was the architect who designed the American Bureau of Shipping Information Commons building.
"Achieving LEED Platinum status for the new library is a major milestone in our modernization program. With the new state-of-the-art library Mass Maritime can better prepare our cadets for careers at sea," said Rear Adm. Francis McDonald, president of Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
