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Phillips Academy Dining Hall Renovation Reaps LEED Silver

by Nicholas Tamarin | Wednesday, December 22, 2010 | 2 Comments

The list of luminaries who dined as students at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts is near endless—poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, both Presidents Bush, Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmstead, Morse code inventor Samuel Morse, artist Frank Stella, actors Humphrey Bogart and Jack Lemmon, baby-book author Dr. Benjamin Spock, presidential scion John F. Kennedy Jr. But it wasn’t until Boston-based architects Schwartz/Silver Architects recent renovation of the prestigious Massachusetts private high school’s 80-year-old Paresky Commons that its dining hall received recognition—from the U.S. Green Building Council no less.

The USGBC bestowed a LEED Silver certification on the 42,480-square-foot structure following a 15-month rehab that saw the reuse and recycling of more than 90 percent of all construction debris generated in addition to the installation of a slew of new energy-efficient equipment and materials.

“We wanted to earn the LEED rating to certify our considerable sustainable initiatives using an accepted standard,” says Phillips director of facilities Michael Williams, who oversaw the renovation.

One of the most notable upgrades is a cutting edge food waste pulper-extractor system that dehydrated and compacted more than 97 tons of organic matter for composting this year. A hood exhaust system which consumes approximately 50 percent less energy than conventional models was also installed, as were new water- and energy-saving equipment, including enhanced electrical systems and high-efficiency insulation. Additionally, nearly 82 percent of the wood-based materials used in the renovation came from Forest Stewardship Council-certified foresters.

Click here to see the video on Paresky Commons

Photos courtesy of John Hurley, Ellen Hardy, David Chase, Steve Porter, Sally Holm.