Virginia Beach, Va. – A student services center at Tidewater Community College is the first public-use building in the Commonwealth to meet new standards that promote energy efficiency and conservation.
Renovations to the Bayside Building on TCC’s Virginia Beach campus converted a library into a 43,000-square-foot student services building.
During construction existing structure, walls and the metal roof were used when possible to reduce the need for new materials. Other construction materials were recycled or came from local sources. The building was also designed to use natural light and LED fixtures.
The Virginia Energy Conservation and Environmental Standards (VEES) were developed as an alternative to other international green building certifications like Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and Green Globes.
“VEES is an alternative approach to green building principles that allows us to raise the bar on energy efficiency and conservation while keeping in mind that no two projects are exactly alike,” Department of General Services Director Christopher Beschler said. “This built-in flexibility allows us to construct and renovate state buildings in a manner that is environmentally friendly, energy efficient and cost effective.”
The High Performance Buildings Act of 2012 requires executive branch agencies to meet VEES, LEED or Green Globes standards in new public buildings larger than 5,000 square feet or in renovations when the cost to renovate is more than 50 percent of the building’s value.
RRMM Architects of Chesapeake designed and implemented the renovation.
