Campus News 2007-2008

Residence Halls Receive Excellence in Design Award

(June 16, 2008) Pitzer College's three new residence halls received a 2007 City of Claremont Excellence in Design Award in the category of New Construction and Sustainability. Claremont's Architectural Commission established the Excellence in Design Awards program in 1980 “to recognize and encourage high quality design projects.” This year the Commission presented awards to sixteen projects that were completed prior to the end of 2007.

True to the College's community style governance, Pitzer students, faculty, alumni and staff actively participated in the planning of this project and believe green building principles mirror the College's goals and values of global sustainability. The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED™ criteria guided the overall project with more than forty sustainable features incorporated into the design and building process.

For example, the energy design system for the new residence halls reduces energy costs by up to 32 percent due to compact fluorescent lighting, daylighting, insulation, chilled water and operable windows with inter-lock. The bathrooms feature low-flow shower heads, faucets and toilets. In residential rooms and throughout the halls low emitting materials, including adhesives, sealants, paints and carpets were used.

This May the College was awarded Gold LEED™ certification by The U.S. Green Building Council for Atherton, Pitzer and Sanborn Halls. Pitzer is the first Claremont College to receive Gold LEED™ certification for its residence halls and is among the few colleges and universities in the nation to achieve this major milestone. Upon completion of its three-phase construction project in progress, Pitzer will likely become the first college in the nation to have all Gold LEED™ certified residence halls.