Professional Commercial Case Studies

Community College of
Southern Nevada
Morse Arberry, Jr. Telecommunications Building
Building Type: Office/Warehouse

Completed in September 2004, this is the first LEED-registered building (currently being reviewed for Silver certification) in the State of Nevada. It has also achieved Energy Star Building status. This signature building, located at the South Campus Entrance, provides computer technology and associated electronic communications training for students, and houses state-of-the-art classrooms, computer laboratories, a TV production studio, and telecommunications editing facilities. Prestigious awards bestowed on this building include the 2003 American School & University Work in Progress, 2004 Southwest Contractor Best Public Project Over $5 Million, and Southwest Contractor Best Greenbuild Project.

Objective
The objective is to create an energy-efficient high-technology structure that enables the fast growing college, currently the second largest institution of higher learning in Nevada, to serve the educational needs of an additional 500 students while providing a stimulating learning environment.

Products Used

Solution
General Contractor Martin-Harris Construction teamed up with JMA Architecture Studios to complete the first design-build project funded by the Nevada Department of Public Works. This 85,000sf building finished ahead of schedule and under budget. As part of the Sustainable Design strategy, 25% of the building is constructed from recycled materials, and 75% of the rooms are daylit. All top floor classrooms are daylit with Solatube 21-C units in combination with Solatube Daylight Dimmers and occupancy sensors to achieve optimum light levels and energy savings. The new building now serves as the home to the engineering, computing/information, and media technology departments.

Testimonial
“I have had nothing but positive comments about the Solatubes in our new facility. Since this is the first LEED Silver building in the State, people are constantly touring the facility and are always quite impressed with our ability to control the amount of daylight in the classrooms. The best part is that when the faculty members need to use an LCD projector they can easily darken the room by closing the Solatubes using the Daylight Dimmers. Both teachers and students really like this feature.”

Peg Pankowski, Ed.D.,
Dean of Information
Technology & Telecommunications
Community College of Southern Nevada