The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold rating to Bellevue College’s science and technology building.

Completed in March 2009 and officially designated the “S Building,” the three-story, 64,000 square-foot facility houses five high-tech classrooms for life sciences and chemistry classes; 16 advanced laboratories, including DNA-sequencer and scanning-electron-microscope labs; and a Science Study Center.

In awarding the Gold LEED rating, the Council cited the S Building’s numerous “green” aspects:

● The facility saves heating energy by employing loss-reducing designs for roof, wall and window construction, and for heating with high-efficiency, water-source heat pumps.

● It saves lighting energy by bringing natural light into 91 percent of its interior space, and by using room-occupancy sensors to turn lights off when not needed.

● It saves water through use of low-flow fixtures in laboratories, showers and restrooms, and promotes water quality through a landscaping design that enables water to drain naturally to the Kelsey Creek watershed.

● It conserves natural resources by using electricity from renewable sources for more than one-third of its power needs, using recycled materials in more than one-fifth of its construction and achieving a 98 percent reduction, through recycling and more precise planning, in the amount of construction waste sent to landfills.

● It provides for a healthier interior environment by using more outdoor air for interior ventilation, a maximum-volume air circulation system, and low-emission paint, carpeting and sealants.

● It promotes a healthier external environment by using cooling and appliance refrigerants that minimize or eliminate emissions that contribute to ozone depletion and global warming.

● It minimizes the “heat island effect – in which a building changes local climates by reflecting solar heat back into the atmosphere – through use of low-reflective materials in its roof and sidewalks.

● It encourages no- and low-emission commuting by providing showers and changing rooms for bicyclists, preferred parking for fuel-efficient and low-emission vehicles and for car- and van-pools.

Built at a cost of $34 million, the S Building was designed by The Miller Hull Partnership. M.A. Mortenson Company was the general contractor.

The new facility brings to 11 the number of instructional buildings on Bellevue College’s main campus.