Pitzer College dorms become award-winners

Last fall, there was plenty of buzz about the completion and dedication of the first wave of new environmentally friendly residence halls on the Pitzer College campus.

It’s nearly one year later and the residence halls are already receiving significant acclaim.

The Atherton, Pitzer and Sanborn Halls were awarded Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the US Green Building Council (USGBC) back in May and also received a 2007 City of Claremont Excellence in Design Award from the Claremont Architectural Commission in June.

“It’s a recognition of a well-done process,” Pitzer College President Laura Trombley told the COURIER in June. “People were really dedicated to the project and worked really hard to make it happen. It’s really opened up a whole new part of the campus and the students just love living there.”

Pitzer College became the first Claremont College to receive the Gold LEED certification for its 3 newer residence halls, a recognition that is only held by a select few colleges and universities in the country. The Gold LEED certification is a distinction awarded by the USGBC, a nonprofit membership organization whose vision is a sustainable built environment within a generation. LEED represents the rating system the award is based on, which is broken down into 6 different categories: Sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design.

The dorms contain 318 beds, 3 community living rooms, a large community courtyard containing 3 thematic gardens and the existing swimming pool, 25 study rooms, a shared community kitchen, apartments for faculty members and more. Built “green” and with sustainability in mind, some of the features of the dormitories include light pollution reduction, water-efficient landscaping, building materials made of recycled and local content and photovoltaic roof panels. It is those types of features that also won them the Excellence in Design recognition in the area of new construction and sustainability.

“Pitzer College is to be congratulated for achieving Gold LEED certification,” said USGBC President, CEO and Founding Chair Rick Fedrizzi in a released statement. “These facilities are ones that the community can be proud of. Pitzer College will be a showcase for high-performance, energy-efficient, healthy living and an inspiration for others.” (story continues below)

COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

Earlier this year, the new Pitzer College dorms became the first residence halls within the Claremont Colleges to receive Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by the US Green Building Council. An outdoor patio area in Atherton Hall is pictured here.

Not only built with the environment in mind, the residence halls—part of the Pitzer College Housing Master Plan—were also meant to be places of both formal and informal learning and places that encourage more student interaction. Pitzer students were also involved in the original planning of the project that also included Pitzer faculty, staff and alumni.

According to Jim Marchant, Pitzer College’s dean of students, the goal of more student interaction has been reached with the new dormitories also helping to create more of a student presence at the campus’ student center as well.

“It’s had an impact on the community and the students,” Mr. Marchant said. “It has created a strong sense of community in providing communal spaces where students are interacting outside of class. We’ve been successful in that.”

Pitzer’s 3 newest residence halls represent just one phase of the Housing Master Plan’s Residential Life Project. The plan calls for 4 more dormitories to be built, bringing the total number of new dorms to 7 once the Residential Life Project is completed. When the 3-phase building project is finished, Pitzer College will have the chance to become the first college in the nation to have all Gold LEED certified dormitories.

“We had been planning building the residence halls for years,” Mr. Marchant pointed out. “We’re happy with our 318 beds and most of our occupants in the newer residence halls are first year students. Now we plan to build more residence halls over the next few years with our ultimate plan being to eventually have all new residence halls on campus.”