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Community college building BREEAM certification

A LA Community College District product story

Edited by the Buildingtalk editorial team Dec 8, 2005

LA Community College District's building project is first in USA to receive BREEAM certification

Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery building, soon to be the site of the Northeast Campus for Los Angeles City College, earns the United Kingdom's sustainability rating.

The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) announced that the historic Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakery building in Glassell Park, which will become the Northeast Campus for Los Angeles City College, is the first construction conversion project in the United States to achieve the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) certification.

BREEAM is a voluntary incentive mechanism used to assess the environmental performance of buildings, and is regarded by the United Kingdom's construction and property sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management.

BREEAM seeks to minimize the adverse effects of new buildings on the environment while promoting healthy indoor conditions for the occupants.

The environmental impacts of a new building, such as energy use, waste disposal transportation concerns and water usage, are assessed at the design stage.

Two UK-based BREEAM assessors, Amy Garrod and Lionel Delorme, attended the 2005 LACCD Sustainability Conference on Friday, December 2, 2005 to present the award to LACCD.

"This is the first building in the US to be assessed under the BREEAM system," said Delorme.

"It recognizes LACCD's forward-thinking policies and its efforts to create a community centric building with reduced environmental impacts and increased comfort for its students".

"LACCD has done an excellent job of engaging the local community to shape the college's design, integrating renewables, and using of sustainable materials," said Garrod, who assessed the building.

"The adaptive reuse of the existing bakery building retains the historical value of the site".

"The building's design includes photovoltaic panels, high energy efficiency, and green building education stations, all of which contributes to the building's BREEAM rating".

The Van de Kamp building will also be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified standards.

LEED Green Building Rating System, similar to the UK's BREEAM, is the U.S.

standard for developing high-performance sustainable buildings.

"By being the first in the world to seek both BREEAM and LEED credentials, LACCD continues to be a leader in the field of sustainable development," said Larry H.

Eisenberg, LACCD's executive director of Facilities Planning and Development.

"Our colleges serve one of the most diverse populations in the world and it is our commitment to teach them that to think sustainable, we must think global".

The Los Angeles Community College District is undertaking the largest public sector sustainable building program in the United States.