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Simmons College Opens its First Building to be "Green" Certified

BOSTON (February 2, 2009) — This week, Simmons College celebrated the opening of its new School of Management and Academic Building — the college's first structure built in accordance with the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards  — with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
 
"Our new green building is a powerful reflection of Simmons's commitment to environmental sustainability and of our responsible stewardship of economic resources," said School of Management Dean Deborah Merrill-Sands.
 
The opening of the 66,500-square-foot building, which houses the Simmons School of Management, formerly located on Commonwealth Ave., marks the first time in the college's history that all five of its graduate schools are co-located on one campus at 300 The Fenway.  From the use of sustainable and recyclable building materials, to highly efficient heating, cooling, and ventilation systems and water fixtures, the new building is as environmentally responsible as it is eye-catching. The building is expected to use 34% less water and 38% less energy than similar buildings of the same size.
 
Simmons has applied for — and expects to receive this spring — a Silver certification rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. The council's LEED standards are a set of stringent sustainability criteria that represent a national standard for high-performance, sustainable, and energy-efficient buildings. According to the U.S. Green Building Council website, only three other higher education institutions in Greater Boston (Harvard, Suffolk, and Tufts universities) have buildings certified at the Silver level or higher.

The new five-story building houses the Simmons School of Management the nation's first MBA program designed specifically for women. It includes four state-of-the-art general-use classrooms, four School of Management-specific classrooms, an executive education conference room, and a "green" landscaped roof plaza.  
 
Simmons partnered with general contractor Lee Kennedy Co., Inc. and the architectural firm Cannon Design on the project, which began in the spring of 2006.
 
Simmons College is a nationally recognized private university located in the heart of Boston.  It offers undergraduate education for women, and renowned coeducational graduate programs in health sciences, education, liberal arts, social work, library and information science, and communications management, as well as the nation's first MBA program designed specifically for women.

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