The recreation and wellness center is currently in design mode and two things are certain: The building will be green and there will be a “grand” patio area/lobby.

The “green” center will be environmentally friendly. The decision to be green came from the desire to meet future certifications and state energy standards and Associated Students Inc.’s main priority concerning the center: for the design of the building to be energy efficient.

According to its most recent committee report on the schematic design development of the project, “one of ASI’s priorities is promoting a green campus.”

“One of our main priorities is to make sure the building is ‘green,’ and we will be leading that push,” student representative for ASI on the building committee Peter Masters said.

While the cooling and heating systems will come after the initial schematic design phase is complete, Vice President of Facilities Services Ron Richardson said the building will meet not only ASI’s request but the state’s requirements as well.

“Environmentally friendly means different things to different people,” Richardson said. “The building will comply with CSU policy to exceed State Title 24 energy standards.”

State Title 24 is a statewide set of building codes to control energy consumption that is still being revised and resulted from the Energy Crisis of 2003. The code requires that all buildings include fluorescent light bulbs instead of incandescent lights, which use more energy. The building committee is also working with the architects to make sure that the recreation wellness center is LEED certified.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a rating system created by the U.S. Green Building Council to recognize construction performance in sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

To be certified as silver, gold or platinum, an architect, real estate professional, facility manager and engineer or construction manager must gain credit points for their building’s performance in the above rating categories.

The architects for the recreation and wellness center were directed to start recording the things they do so that upon completion of the building it will be able to move toward the LEED certification, Richardson said.

“There is a buzz with ASI about the building being energy-efficient and this will be proof that it is,” Richardson said.

The building committee, designed of students, faculty and staff, is also currently working with the architects of Ellerbe Beckett and Hornberger Worstell to finish the design of the building ?” including where it will sit in relation to other facilities and the exterior look ?” and trying to create a lobby and patio with a “wow” factor concept, Masters said.

“We want it to be welcoming,” Masters said. “Initially, the entry was simply a ‘hole in the wall’ but the design now calls for the entry to be angled and made of glass to allow for sunlight.”

The walls will concave and the two blocks of the building will tilt inward with a large patio in between. The building committee’s vision of the patio is to generate a social atmosphere and to make the appearance more ‘grand.’

The recreation and wellness center will include a running track, fitness center, weight room, children’s center, basketball courts and rock-climbing wall, among other fitness-oriented amenities.

The wellness center will offer the benefits currently available at the Student Health Center as well as stress reduction and mental health programs, health screening, eating and weight programs, tobacco control programs and behavioral interventions. A ‘grand’ lobby and patio area will play as a central meeting area.

After the schematic design portion is completed, the building committee will focus on the preliminary or design development and then develop the construction documents.

These documents will be presented to the CSU board of trustees in March 2007, previously slated for January.

“We will be 50 percent finished with the schematics in November and be 100 percent by January,” Richardson said.

Blake Ellington can be reached at [email protected]