Central College goes for highest "green" rating on new building

Central College is striving for LEED Platinum with its newest campus building.  This will be Central's third LEED certified building on campus.  

Mike Lubberden, the private college's director of facilities planning and management, was the first person in Iowa to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional designation from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The Vermeer Science Center was the first to achieve a LEED silver rating (the third-highest level) and it achieved a LEED gold rating with its Howard McKee Hall dormitory addition.

Now, with its education and psychology building, Central is striving for LEED platinum, the highest rating, which would make it the first in the state to be certified at that level. Construction on the building will end in August, and by the end of the year, Central, RDG Planning & Design (the architect) and Weitz Iowa (the general contractor) hope to know whether they achieved their goal. The team must obtain at least 52 out of 69 possible points, some of which were automatically forfeited for things such as not having public transportation or a building from which to reuse materials.