We are sitting here in the new Galileo's pavilion building at Johnson country community college
in the lounge between the two classrooms and we are here to talk to you about the history
of this building why it was built and some of the designs and features that make this
a unique building that make this a real opportunity for both this campus, our community and our
students.
The Genesis Galileo's project actually begins several years ago with students and faculty
talking about the desire to have a model green building on this campus.
That idea was revived a little over a year ago by the students on the student sustainability
committee here at Johnson county community college.
Those students were really interest6ed in investing some of the dollars of the sustainability
initiative fund into such a project because they believed it was important for a campus
like this to have a place for technology to be on display in which students could learn
about renewable energy, could learn about energy efficiency and learn about what cutting
edge high performance buildings look like in an age in which sustainability and green
buildings are going to be increasingly important.
So to that end the staff of the center of sustainability were charged by that student
group to go out and try to figure out how to make this happen.
So in that process in that search we encountered studio eight O' four which is a master's program
in architecture at the University of Kansas which does design build work.
The idea behind that program is to have architecture students actually feel the tactile sensations
of having to build projects and not just design them.
And studio able four has a long standing reputation for doing cutting edge green building.
They are perhaps best known for doing the five four seven art center in Greensburg which
was a lead platinum building, in fact the first platinum building in the state.
And it was built there of course after the tornado which devastated Greensburg back in
2007.
Our students on the sustainability program took that idea forward and we were able to
convince the board as well as secretary Terry Calaway that this is a project worth pursuing
and that this would be a real addition to Johnson county community college.
To me one of the most interesting things about these projects is that it was really conceived
by students, it was partially funded by students, and it was built by students.
In exploring potential sites on JCCC's campus for this new green building we knew that we
wanted something south facing so that we could maximize the potential for the suns energy
as well as centrally located so that it can be accessed by students across campus regardless
of whether they were taking classes in there or not.
The site where it now stands is the most ideal site for both of these elements.
The only thing on the site at the time was a sculpture called Galileo's garden that is
owned by the Nerman museum of art here on campus in the middle of negotiation of deciding
whether the sculpture could be moved or whether the building could be on site with the sculpture
the studio eight O' four students decided to take it upon themselves to design the building
with the sculpture in mind, placing the sculpture in the courtyard making excellent use of the
synergy of the sculptures use of the sun; tracing the path of the sun and the buildings
use of the sun for energy and light.
Once design work was complete including the integration of the Galileo's garden sculpture
into the overall design of the building construction began in January of 2012.
The actual construction happened rather rapidly partially because of the schedule of the studio
eight O' four students who were trying to get done as close to graduation as possible.
So the studio eight O' four students were able to do a great deal over a relatively
short amount of time and all in all things went very quickly.
The dedication of Galileo's pavilion took place on the summer solstice in June of 2012.
At that event dignitaries of both KU and Johnson County Community College talked about the
importance of the building and the importance of the educational opportunities of Johnson
County students and the University of Kansas students and its relevance to members of the
public and people were able to tour the building and get a real sense of why this project matters.
During the design process of incorporating the sculpture into the building the staff
were able to locate original drawings of the art by artist Dale Eldred showing the sculpture
in the square formation rather than the rectangle formation it had been placed in on the current
site.
Therefore it was able to be reinstalled with more of the original intention of the artist
here in the courtyard of Galileo's pavilion one of the most visible features of the building
is its use of reclaimed materials.
On the exterior of the building the slate is reclaimed from old chalk boards from old
school houses across the Midwest and the glass is used in the south facing windows that were
reclaimed from the west end project was going up on the Kansas City Plaza that was not completed.
In fact the architects designed the windows to fit the glass once they were able to locate
that material.
One of the most compelling features of the building are the green walls that are in each
of the three rooms.
The green walls server to add a benefit of air quality as well as incorporate the natural
environment into the building.
the green walls are irrigated by rain water that is captured off the room and is stored
in a seventeen hundred gallon cistern behind the building.
That water also supplies the flush valves in the restrooms.
Another distinctive feature of the building is the 2.4 Kilowatt wind turbine that provides
electricity to the building.
Electricity is also generated by forty four solar panels on the roof.
The building is grid tied which means it is tied into the electric grid of the college.
And when the building is producing more electricity than it is using at a given time that electricity
is fed back into the grid and JCCC will be credited for that alternative energy production.
The roof of the building provides a number of sustainable elements.
The forty four solar panels provide electricity to the building and around the perimeter of
the roof there are green roof trays.
These green roof trays containing native plants will help to mitigate storm water runoff as
well as to help to keep the building cool.
The rest of the roof is white which will help to reflect light and help mitigate the heat
island effect.
The landscaping of the site contains a rain garden which will catch storm water runoff
from the site and filter out pollutants.
Led lighting is located in the buildings lounge and vestibules.
Led lighting is a very efficient source of lighting using %50 less of energy lasting
six times as long and the light also doesn't produce heat.
The building also incorporates the use of passive solar energy.
This is done through day lighting on the south facing windows as well as capturing the suns
energy during the winter for heat through the use of the thermal mass in the concrete
floors.
The frosted louvers on the windows will serve to maximize this potential; shading from the
sun in the summer and allowing for more of the suns light and heat in the winter.
The angle of the louvers is very specifically calculated to this region in order to maximize
the suns energy and light both in the winter and in the summer.
I am fortunate enough to teach a class here in Galileo's pavilion and can personally attest
to how students have positively responded to this building.
The classrooms have a very comforting feel about them, the green walls provide a kind
of bio response with our students.
Then they feel comfortable with the sound of the water trickling down the green wall
provides a soothing atmosphere and the green walls themselves add a great deal in terms
of the air quality of the building.
And so for those of us who teach in this building the building is well on its way to fulfilling
the intentions of the students who both wanted the project and the students who helped build
the project.
While they are here they are learning about both actively and passively what high performance
buildings really can be.
And they will leave this building wondering why some of the buildings don't have some
of the features that this particular building does.
And so in that sense Galileo's pavilion is perhaps the crowning jewel of Johnson County
Community College's green portfolio.
Galileo's pavilion was designed to lead his performance standards and leave certification
processes ongoing.
The other elements of Johnson County Community College include the Olathe health education
center which was certified lead gold largely due to its innovative geothermal system and
the ongoing under construction culinary academy which will be lead silver once completed.
These buildings largely give our students collectively a variety of high performance
buildings.
Both utilitarian and in Galileo's pavilion's case a real show case this is a real demonstration
of the college trying to lead the way both in terms of education of high performance
buildings but also walking that talk.