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Culinary Institute plans green student housing

31-UNIT FACILITY NEAR GREYSTONE TO SEEK TOP LEED CERTIFICATION

ST. HELENA – As a part of a broad effort to make its campus more sustainable, the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone plans to construct what will be one of the city’s greenest buildings.

On Tuesday the school will submit its design for city approval of a 31-unit student housing building it hopes will reach a minimum of LEED gold certification, if not platinum, the highest.

“Because we are educators, we wanted to be a leader to our students and our neighbors to show them how we can make an impact, but also how it can be done in an economical way,” said Greystone Managing Director Charles Henning.

School officials began plans for the dormitory expansion about two years ago as student enrollment began to increase and affordable housing became scarce. Recently, the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, N.Y., began efforts to renovate sustainably and St. Helena educators thought the new student building would be a good way to create something green from scratch.

“Our main campus in New York, like the Greystone, was built in the late 19th century and has a lot of inefficiencies, but right now they are rebuilding and renovating everything more sustainable,” Mr. Henning said.

“It is an overall preoccupation of the college.”

The new building would be constructed alongside a 40-unit student dorm on Pratt Avenue, a little over a mile from Greystone, once planners approve the project. Builders hope to break ground this fall and have the structure ready for occupancy by summer 2009.

St. Helena-based Valley Architects created the drawings of the building and described the design as modern, but infused with classic Napa style.

“When we started the design, we looked to form the building after some of the traditional Napa Valley structures,” said Rob Anglin, the architect on the project. “The building will have a natural look, but we still can take advantage of using sustainable products like artificial wood and recycled cement.”

The exterior of the building will also have a craftsman-style look, with hand-troweled stucco walls and beam and baton-planked siding. The property will be completely redesigned with sustainable landscaping, a new drainage system and fruit, nut and vegetable-bearing gardens.

Petaluma-based ZAC Landscape Architects created a water system that directs runoff to bioswales that will remove silt and pollution from the water. A rain garden along one of the building’s exterior walls will prevent flooding and provide water that will be reused in the dorm’s toilets. The parking lot will be made from decomposed granite and shale, which allow water to sink into the ground.

The pitched roof of the building will be oriented to face south and lined with solar energy-producing panels, which will also be used as parking covers. The electricity will be used to power the house and water heaters.

“A lot of times, green buildings have the reputation of being expensive, but really it’s just about building consciously and using architectural intelligence. This building will be a great example of that,” Mr. Anglin said.

One of the most unique features in the house will be the creative use of natural light. The top floor and sides of the building will have light-collecting, prismatic-like windows and skylights that will reduce the need for electrical lights. Also, the hallway floors on the second floor will be translucent so light from roof windows will reach the first floor.

Healthy Buildings USA is the general contractor, project manager and LEED consultant for the project.

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