I live in Toledo, OH, near theUniversity of Toledo, which is known for itsCollege of Engineering. So it is fitting that the school’s newly renovated, 145,000-sq-ft Memorial Field House would be pursuing LEED®Silver certification.

According to Matt Lockwood, university spokesman, new energy-efficient, automated HVAC systems have been installed, including two custom air handlers instead of an originally planned six, which will result in approximately $600,000 in savings for the university. The building also houses a chilled water plant that cools more than half of UT’s campus.

The Collegiate Gothic-style field house, which was built in 1931, developed out of the work of famed Boston architect Ralph Adams Cram, and features castle-like turrets, battlements along rooflines of the main entrance, and a central bay window. The renovated space will feature 54 state-of-the-art classrooms, 70 faculty offices, a three-story central atrium, a 250-seat auditorium, a typography lab for studying the art of creating books, a foreign language lab, film viewing rooms, and an educational incubator to develop innovative teaching methods.

BHDP Architecture of Cincinnati developed the design and contractors on the project include A. Z. Shmina, Inc. (general), Industrial Power Systems (mechanical), Lake Erie Electric, Warner Mechanical Group (plumbing), and Accel Fire Systems, Inc. (fire protection).