Cal State East Bay Recreation and Wellness Center

Recreation and Wellness Center to Go Green

March 12th 2009

The Pioneer

The new Cal State East Bay Recreation and Wellness Center that is scheduled to be completed by fall quarter of 2010 will be a facility built and maintained to unusually high environmental standards.

From the very beginning of construction to the very end, everything put into the building will be constructed from recycled content and will maintain green and sustainable practices.

Even construction debris will be sorted and recycled. All the materials the architect uses will have to have a sustainable quality to them or an energy efficient design.

"The impetus to go green in regards to the Recreation and Wellness Center came from the Planning Committee and was strongly supported by the campus, because the campus has the same values when it comes to this sort of thing," said Bob Williams executive director of the Associated Students Inc.

The building will also be furnished with infrastructure for the eventual installation of photovoltaic cells for solar energy.

However, "the photovoltaic cells will not go up just yet, but the building will be designed to take it once we have the money to put them up," Williams said.

The site itself and how the building will sit were the subjects of scientific study to determine natural lighting for top energy efficiency.

The structure will be designed for natural ventilation and air conditioning will be limited to the administration offices and the fitness center only. The walls will be designed to absorb heat and most of the center will be constructed with windows to provide adequate interior lighting during the day time.

The center will also offer students an education about the sustainability of the Recreation and Wellness Center to Go Green building and how it operates.

Equipment purchased to place within the building will be made from recycled materials and is sustainable. Even the wood used within the building will be from farmed facilities, not forests.

The building is required to be LEED Gold.