Just in time for Earth Day, Colby’s state-of-the-art Harold Alfond Athletics and Recreation Center (HAARC) is receiving national and international recognition for its green building design and construction, and its innovative natural site and landscape.
Conceived to promote health, wellness, and the optimal performance of body and mind, the 354,000-square-foot building on the north side of campus has been certified LEED Platinum, the highest green-building rating available and the second platinum status for a Colby construction project. The College also has received SITES Gold certification for the site and landscape design associated with the 31-acre complex. It’s the first SITES project to achieve gold-level certification in Maine and New England, and Colby’s second SITES project.
Both certificates are administered by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is the most widely used green-building rating system in the United States, providing a framework for healthy, efficient, and sustainable construction and the use of the building over time. SITES measures the performance and sustainable attributes of a landscaped environment.
In addition, the Britain-based Civic Trust Awards, which recognize projects that demonstrate excellence “whilst being sustainable, accessible and provide a positive civic contribution,” honored the HAARC with an international award. Judges cited the building’s ability to “minimise energy wastage while creating an elegant external form.”
The achievements acknowledge the College’s commitment to sustainability and healthy living and underscore its efforts to innovate and “continue to raise the bar,” said Minakshi M. Amundsen, assistant vice president of facilities and campus planning. “The recognition means a lot to us, as the certifications highlight and extend Colby’s focus on environmental sustainability in its academic programs as well as its expression on the physical campus.”
The HAARC opened in 2020 and is notable for its south-facing glass exterior shell, a compact and creative layout of athletics and recreation amenities, and an overall feeling of openness and welcomeness.
Built into the ground on a raised site across from Johnson Pond, the three-story building includes the Aquatics Center and Olympic-size Myrtha pool, O’Neil | O’Donnell Forum and Jack Kelley Ice Rink, Margaret M. Crook Center and Whitmore-Mitchell Basketball Court, Boulos Family Fitness Center, O’Neil Family Wellness Studios, Papedellis Family Erg Room, and Indoor Competition Center. It is the largest and most comprehensive athletics facility in D-III.
Together, the LEED and SITES certifications recognize the efficiencies and innovations associated with the multi-use building that sits in harmony with the land, takes advantage of the sun and natural light, and serves the community’s immediate and long-term needs in an environmentally responsible manner. LEED buildings and SITES-certified landscapes are a key part of addressing climate change and meeting carbon-neutrality goals, and they create healthy environments.
To achieve LEED certification, projects earn points by addressing issues related to the use of carbon, energy, water, and materials, as well as transportation and waste. SITES is concerned with water demand, filtration, runoff, and the overall quality of habitat.
“What is so beautiful about this project is we have taken this natural landscape and this idea of wellness and reflected both in every aspect of the building,” Amundsen said.
She credited the College’s leadership and the commitment of the design and construction teams to achieve the goals, which represent a new standard for sustainability for a project of this size. “They came through with creative ideas and solutions, achieving and exceeding our goals within the original budget.”
Colby worked with the firm Sasaki, along with Hopkins Architects, in the building’s design, and with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates on the landscape architecture. The firm Thornton Tomasetti served as LEED and SITES consultant, and Consigli Construction Co. built the building.
Chris Sgarzi, a Sasaki senior principal and architect, who specializes in sports complexes, said the LEED-Platinum and SITES-Gold certifications are significant because no other project in New England has achieved them together. They were especially challenging, and rewarding, to accomplish for a project of this size and scope.
“It really is quite an accomplishment for a building of this scale, which is both freezing ice and heating water for a pool at the same time and has so much volume in it. It has a lot of heating and cooling needs,” he said.
Matthew Girard, associate principal with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, praised Colby for resisting the budget pressures that often reduce the positive environmental impact of landscape design. “But if people make a commitment, which is what Colby did, you can achieve your goals. Colby was determined,” Girard said, “and all the important aspects of landscape design were kept front and center.”
Andrew Barnett, principal with Hopkins, said, “Working at such a large scale on both the building and its landscape setting placed heightened environmental focus on touching the campus as lightly as possible, and we are pleased that in working together as a team to achieve this from the outset, the project has now been formally acknowledged with this gold accreditation.”
The challenges of the project resulted in novel solutions, which contributed to the LEED and SITES honors.
Rather than vent the heat generated from making and cooling the ice for the rink, Colby captures that heat and uses it to warm water for the pool.
Instead of spreading the building out on one level, Colby dug down and built up. The bottom floor is built into the earth, saving on insulation and material costs of exterior walls. “The less wall surface, the less cost, because of material and labor,” Amundsen said. “And by creating something compact instead of spreading out, you use less land as a resource. You get a higher level of sustainability while saving money.”
That decision also created the puzzle of arranging the rink, pool, gym, and all the locker rooms and facilities that go with them, in a logical and efficient manner. The result was a central courtyard that organizes the building, brings daylight down to the lower locker-room level, and creates a quiet, calming outside environment within a bustling complex.
Designers used steel and concrete only where needed. Less steel and less concrete mean less embodied carbon, which represents the amount of energy associated with materials and construction, and less cost. “That contributed to our sustainability goals, and also to cost reductions,” Amundsen said.
But perhaps the most visible aspect of Colby’s commitment to creating a sustainable environment can be seen in the landscape that surrounds the center.
Colby stripped, stockpiled, and re-used the soil. In low-traffic meadow areas the soil was screened and used as-is. Lawn soils with high use, or soils within the vegetated basins that needed to be free-draining, were blended with different ratios of sand and compost to achieve performance and horticultural goals.
Instead of running water off the roof and into the storm-drainage system, runoff is diverted into the landscape. And instead of planting sprawling green lawns that require fertilizer, mowing, and maintenance, Colby opted for native plants, grasses, and meadows that promote biodiversity.
The College also reused wood from the trusses of the old hockey arena, milling it for use as siding for a restroom and storage facility and for benches at the adjacent athletics fields.
From Amundsen’s perspective, Colby’s commitment to a sustainable landscape means the College is willing to practice what it teaches. “We have one of the earliest environmental studies programs in the country here at Colby. How do we reflect that leadership in the physical campus?”
By investing in the landscape to create an environment that promotes a holistic, healthy lifestyle, she said.
“If you say you are sustainable but all you have are buildings and lawns, even if the systems in your buildings are efficient, people don’t see it. The landscape makes it visible. It engages people. It’s attractive.”
In all aspects, the HAARC embodies the principles of health, wellness, and sustainability. The dual recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council, for both the building and the landscape, affirms the value in Colby’s commitment, Amundsen said.
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