Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Keene State College: TDS Center

  • 08/01/14
Keene State College: TDS Center

PHOTOS © CHUCK CHOI

In 2013, Keene State College’s Technology, Design and Safety Center (TDS Center) earned LEED Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council/Green Building Certification Institute. This designation was given to the building based on its energy efficiency and the materials used to build the structure. The building was designed by Boston-based architecture firm Architerra and engineered by Rist Frost Shumway Engineering, based in Laconia, NH. The TDS Center is home to Keene State’s Sustainable Product Design and Innovation, Architecture, and Safety and Occupational Health Applied Sciences programs. As a result of the TDS Center’s energy efficiency, Keene State College is the third largest producer of solar energy on the Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH) system.

“The TDS Center effectively integrates with our programs for effective teaching and learning — student learning was our top priority all along,” says Keene State’s vice president for Finance and Planning, Jay Kahn. “This building demonstrates sustainable design and construction, while providing a space that is welcoming to our campus community and the broader community. The TDS Center was created with these priorities in mind — the solar array, which was supported financially by businesses and organizations in our community, made it possible to achieve LEED Platinum certification.”

“It was a pleasure to work with the Keene State College administration and faculty and USNH [University System of New Hampshire] leadership. From day one, they insisted on an energy-efficient design. The secret triumph of this design is its conventional cost, popularity among students, opportunity to integrate the building into teaching curriculum and 60 percent modeled energy savings compared to a baseline building, met in part by an integrated solar array which is both cost-effective and educational,” says Ellen Watts, Architerra principal.

Keene State College is online at www.keene.edu.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

Featured

  • North Carolina District Completes New Elementary School

    The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in Holly Springs, N.C., recently announced that construction on a new elementary school has finished, according to a news release. Rex Road Elementary School measures in at 133,000 square feet and is the fifteenth school that general contractor Balfour Beatty has completed for the district.

  • DFW-Area District Opens New Replacement Middle School

    The Eagle Mountain-Saginaw Independent School District near Fort Worth, Texas, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new replacement middle school campus, according to a news release. The new facility for Wayside Middle School, originally established in 1964, was built on the site of the former district administration building and funded through Bond Proposition A in 2023.

  • University of Rhode Island, Gilbane Partner for Three New Residence Halls

    The University of Rhode Island in Kingston, R.I., recently announced a public-private partnership with construction development firm Gilbane, according to a news release. Gilbane will soon start construction on three new residence halls with a total of 1,100 beds: two with apartment-style suites in northwest campus, and a reconstruction of the Graduate Village Apartments for graduate students.

  • UCNJ Launches $30M Modernization of Physical Education Center

    The Union College of Union County (UCNJ) in Cranford, N.J., recently broke ground on a new $30-million modernization project for its Physical Education Center (PECK), according to a news release. The college partnered with DIGroup Architecture for the project’s design, transitioning the existing 42,000-square-foot structure into a campus hub for student athletics and campus life.