Best practices for environmental sustainability are becoming more and more the norm in new construction and renovations.
Engelberth Construction recently completed the new Garfield House at Williams College, built to be highly energy-efficient under the Passive House Institute US PHIUS+ 2015 standards. This new dormitory is pre-certified, one of the first two residence halls in Massachusetts to apply under this program. The Passive House model is a performance-based quality assurance system with five building principles: continuous insulation, airtight construction, optimized windows, balanced ventilation and minimal mechanical systems. PHIUS relys on the collaborative efforts in both the design and construction processes in order to achieve these stringent criteria.
Garfield House is a new wood-frame 16,570 sf suite-style dormitory housing 40 students in twenty single rooms and ten doubles. The facility has a main living and dining room, a full kitchen, as well as lounges and study nooks. The PHIUS energy efficient features include an airtight shell with triple-paned windows, brise soliel above the south facade windows, R-60 insulation in the roof, R-38 insulated walls, passive ventilation and phase change materials for cooling, and a drainwater heat recovery system. The results are a balance of thermal comfort, indoor air quality and energy efficiency and affordability built for the long-term.