Al ha, green Treasa Sweek ’99 is introducing sustainable Written by STEPHANIE L. GRAHAM


The headlines are filled with news of the green building industry—LEED®


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“Mudd’s engineering and math cur- riculum gave me more than I need to understand building science and apply it to green buildings.” –Treasa Sweek ’99


buildings get recognition, architects are lauded for using the latest green technologies, organizations are praised for updating their facilities to be more green. But there was a time when the industry progressed quietly with often little attention paid to developments. Treasa Sweek ’99 remembers those times. She’s been in the green business


since she began working with fellow alumni Malcolm Lewis ’67 and Gail Stranske ’98. They recruited her during an HMC career fair to work for sustainability and energy efficiency company CTG Energetics, where, at the time, Lewis was chairman and CEO (he is now president). Stranske is currently a project engineer. Sweek has always considered the work in the green industry


exciting, and it is even more so now that the movement toward sustainable practices and technology has gained momentum, particularly in education and the corporate world. After working at CTG for several years, Sweek moved


to Washington state to join Paladino and Company, an internationally recognized green building consulting firm. She’s pleased to be working in a state that long ago recognized the benefits of a more sustainable lifestyle. “The region has an environmental focus going back decades,” she notes, adding that California and New York also have excellent track records in this regard. Now, as one of four senior green building consultants at


Paladino and a registered mechanical engineer, Sweek provides technical consulting and energy modeling to guide project teams in optimizing alternative, active and passive system design and operation. “My work is focused on testing buildings and finding ways to operate them using less energy. My professional goal is to offset the carbon footprint I produce in my personal life by identifying, implementing and verifying building energy savings.” Called building commissioning, Sweek’s work brings


together the technical with the practical. “I see that the owner’s operational needs are met, that building systems are optimized to perform safely and efficiently and that building operators are trained to keep it all running,” she says.


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writing, as well as addressing commercial and institutional issues and constraints in relation to the LEED®


Sweek is also well-versed in sustainable program consulting and Green Building Rating


System. She notes that her HMC studies gave her a good start. “Mudd’s engineering and math curriculum gave me more


than I need to understand building science and apply it to green buildings,” says Sweek. “The state-of-the-art computing technology introduced me to the software that I still use in my job. It also taught me how to connect with people and find information beyond my physical location. Most of all, learning and growing along with my fellow students taught me skills in teamwork and cooperation that will serve me for the rest of my life.” As an experienced project manager and consultant, Sweek has


worked on one of the greenest projects in the world: Las Vegas Springs Preserve for the Las Vegas Valley Water District, which is LEED Platinum, the highest LEED rating. One of her current projects is the $52 million World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument visitor center, which commemorates the heroic individuals involved in the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. Paladino is the project’s sustainability consultant, with Sweek taking on the role of commissioning agent. For the last two years, Sweek has traveled to the site providing sustainable design consulting, technical assistance and commissioning,. The three-decades’-old visitor center is Hawaii’s most popular


attraction; more than 1.3 million people show up annually at the facility that was designed for 750,000 visitors. The new design will allow the visitor center to expand to 24,000 square feet, doubling the current museum exhibition space. Gathering spaces are being expanded and the museum will have almost twice as much exhibit area. Sweek is excited about the sustainable features of the visitor


center. “There will be a 50-kilowatt photovoltaic system which will generate about 25 percent of the building’s annual energy consumption. Also, since it is an environmentally sensitive site, we’ve minimized the water usage.” Most of the buildings will be naturally ventilated by trade


winds that blow 29 out of 30 days per month. “We are taking advantage of human thermal comfort science which says even if it’s 80 degrees inside a slight breeze will keep most people as comfortable as they would be in a fully air-conditioned, 65- degree room,” says Sweak. “Another great feature is thermally massive construction that is shaded right next to the walkways between buildings. The thermal mass cools down overnight and then is slow to heat up. It radiates a cooler temperature for most


* Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design


design to diverse audiences.


PALADINO AND COMPANY


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