The Administration and Health Science Building was completed late last year
The Administration and Health Science Building‘s sustainable design and attributes will be examined during a tour later this month that is organized by the U.S. Green Building Council Hawaiʻi and its partners.
The tour will be led by the project’s architect with input from the landscape architect, ecological consultant, and sustainability coordinator. The event organizers say the goal of the June 28 tour is to share best practices and lessons learning in daylighting, onsite water reuse, and healthy indoor environments.
“We chose to tour the UH West Oʻahu’s Administration and Health Science Building because of the integrated design process that set sustainability goals and objectives early on and met or exceeded them with the finished product,” wrote tour organizer Ian Tierney in an email. Tierney is also sustainability coordinator of KYA Design Group, a Honolulu-based firm that helped design the building in conjunction with Perkins + Will.
The AHS’ second floor lanai has large openings letting light into the space
“Projects like this lead by example, by showing how sustainable design can make sense not just environmentally but also socially, culturally and financially. This project saves on operating costs because it is more energy efficient than code, it reduces water use by capturing and storing onsite.”
Tierney also noted the green building design promotes occupant health, has climate controls and natural daylighting, and low volatile organic compounds in the interior of the building. He said the landscape for this design seeks to restore and heal the former sugar cane land back to a state that can be utilized by the community and cultural practitioners.
The $32 million building had its grand opening in December 2018 and houses the campus’ administrative functions in one wing and classrooms, laboratories and faculty offices in another wing. The building is expected to qualify for at least a LEED Silver certification. LEED is the most widely cited green building rating system, with certified structures designed to savings in energy, water, and resources while producing less waste.
US Green Building Council Hawaii Community exists to create an environmentally and socially responsible, healthy and prosperous quality of life for all in Hawaii through the transformation of the built environment and the way it is planned, designed, constructed and operated, according to Tierney
He noted USGBC Hawaii works to educate the building industry on sustainable design, construction, and operation practices and periodically conducts tours of green buildings to examine topics including energy efficiency, resilience, water recycling, waste diversion, and materials selection