Fahy Commons started as a LEED-Silver-equivalent addition to an existing fraternity house. After engaging the College’s stakeholders, the design team heard goals that weren’t aligned with the original project scope, including loftier sustainability goals, a desire to set a new standard for building and educating on campus, and better campus connections to the project.

With the new mission confirmed by the College, the design team dramatically reconsidered the nature of the project itself, baking in best practices in sustainable design. They emphasized economy through a smaller building footprint than initially proposed, and removed excess impervious coverage to better connect the building to campus and provide a direct at-grade entry into the new building to provide a dignified entry for all users.

To set sustainability goals, the design team worked with student, faculty, staff, and alumni stakeholders to determine the project target not only for this project, but for future university buildings.

With Living Building Challenge Core set as the primary target, and then folding in LEED Platinum and Passive House certifications, the project team took a holistic approach to the design of the building. This required measuring and evaluating the carbon, energy, and material resources of every design decision. As the team considered the carbon use of construction and operations, they took it one step further and planned for future renovations. This methodology required that they view the building over the span of 100 years which ultimately informed the core structural systems and layout.

By approaching the design process in this way, the team was able to receive the buy-in from the owner and other project stakeholders who now understood the positive impact that this building would have for generations to come.

When Fahy was completed in 2022, it quickly became the shining star on campus. Beyond the energy generated on the roof, it generated a new energy around discovery and understanding of sustainable building strategies. Students were eager to learn what the building was teaching, and faculty found that they had a truly living laboratory for education.