Kaskaskia College Vandalia Campus Is First Public Community College in Illinois To Receive Energy-Conservation Certification For A Building Project

Kaskaskia College officials are announcing that its new Vandalia Campus has been awarded LEED (Leadership In Energy and Environmental Design) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) of the US Department of Energy. KC is the first public community college in Illinois to receive the energy-conservation certification for a building project.

Kaskaskia College, along with the State of Illinois has embraced the objective of constructing and operating facilities using “green” principles. Formal recognition for green design is determined by the United States Green Building Council’s “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” (LEED) green building rating system. The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system was designed to encourage and facilitate the development of more sustainable buildings.

Kaskaskia College President Dr. Jim Underwood says "The KC Vandalia Campus Hazel Simma-Kelly Education Building is a wonderful example of an energy efficient project designed and planned by a team with representatives from the City of Vandalia, community of Vandalia, architects and engineers, and KC staff and Board of Trustees.  We are proud that this is the first community college project in the state of Illinois to be fully certified as meeting the high standards of energy conservation by our Federal Government."

The first phase of the new Vandalia Campus was completed in December 2007 and consists of a 21,350 square foot classroom and laboratory building designed with an emphasis on using resources, materials and energy efficiently.   Building components and construction exemplify environmental standards of energy-efficiency and earth-friendly construction. 

Architectural services for the project were provided by BLDD Architects located in Decatur with KJWW Engineering of St. Louis and Shores Builders of Centralia as the general contractor.

The KC Vandalia Campus incorporated key elements of sustainable design, optimizing energy performance by utilizing:

• Geothermal ground-source heat pumps
• Total heat recovery system
• High internal environmental quality
• Indoor air quality monitoring
• Energy management system
• Regional building materials high in recycled content
• Low-emitting materials used in paints, wood, and composites
• Reflective metal standing seam roof
• Construction waste management plan
• Occupancy sensor lighting controls
• Water use reduction of 24.9%
• Water efficient landscaping
• Building orientation that maximizes direct line of site through exterior windows
• Innovation in Design
• A LEED Accredited Professional was on the project development team

In total, with green building design of the Kaskaskia College Vandalia Campus, the College sees an energy cost savings of about 33%.

For more information on the project, please contact Laura Wedekemper at 545-3185.

For radio interviews, please call Dr. Jim Underwood at 545-3010.