McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture is pleased to announce the recently completed Spartanburg Community College Downtown Campus has received LEED Silver certification through the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating program.
McMillan Pazdan Smith was engaged by Spartanburg Community College to convert the Evans Building in downtown Spartanburg into classrooms and administrative offices for the college. The three-story, 104,000 SF building was originally constructed in 1921.
Energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly strategies were central to the historic restoration strategy. The interior was rebuilt through the repair and replication of many architectural elements, materials, and finishes, while entirely reusing the original building structure and roof. Water-efficient irrigation and plumbing fixtures, custom-manufactured energy-efficient windows, water-sourced heat pumps, and low-VOC interior finishes were all important factors in obtaining LEED status. Cumulatively, these changes created a 21 percent reduction in building energy usage compared to code requirements.
Additional LEED points were scored for using an existing building in an urban setting with close proximity to high-density residential and public transportation. Over the course of the renovation, 58 percent of all construction waste was diverted from landfills and recycling.
The new floor plan includes state-of-the-art classrooms and labs suited to the highly flexible and technology driven needs of today’s open, group learning environments. Most of the occupied areas were situated with views to the outside. The intact auditorium and gymnasium were also completely refinished for college and community use.
This is McMillan Pazdan Smith’s twenty-ninth LEED certified project.
McMillan Pazdan Smith is a studio-based design firm specializing in master planning, architecture and interior design services. Office locations include Charleston, Greenville and Spartanburg, SC, Atlanta, GA and Asheville NC.