cathedral nave and Connecticut barn’. It is orientated east west, with the long northern side, with its minimal openings, set into the hillside, and a much more open southern side spilling out into a garden.


The concrete structure, exposed internally to provide thermal mass, has 50 per cent of the cement replaced by blast-furnace slag, a waste material. Low-velocity fans in the basement circulate the air in the displacement system.


It is easy to concentrate entirely on energy when one thinks about environmental performance, but water is also a valuable resource, and the architect has not neglected this in its design. There is a rainwater harvesting system that not only gathers water from the roof but also uses the garden in the south courtyard to help clean it up. The rainwater is directed to an area of aquatic plants which filter out sediment and contaminants. From there it goes to underground storage tanks, and it is used for flushing lavatories. The saving in water, the school of forestry estimates, is a staggering 500,000 gallons a year.


The architect even thought about the lift (sorry, elevator), in environmental terms. It has specified a counterweighted roped holeless hydraulic elevator, which uses less energy than either an ordinary hydraulic elevator or a typical roped counterweighted elevator. Equally importantly, by placing the staircase at the heart of the building, it has helped to ensure that only those who really need an elevator will use it.


On completion of the building in April 2009, Richard C Levin, the president of Yale, praised it as ‘Yale’s most sustainable building to date’ and said that he hoped ‘its energy-saving concepts will be emulated widely and inspire others to advance green building design even further.’ Set anywhere, this building would be an achievement in both architectural and sustainability terms. The fact that it has also replaced an eyesore of a power plant and created a focus for a department that previously inhabited a soulless hotchpotch of buildings is a bonus. And for the students and faculty, what could be better than to be reminded of the subject of their study every time they look at those red oak walls? With busy agendas they are unlikely to get to the forest as often as they might wish. How marvellous then that the forest has come to them.


ENVIRONMENT INDUSTRY MAGAZINE |173|


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180