Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies, De Anza College, Cupertino (Silicon Valley), California

LEED™ Platinum Certified

Winner of the 2006 AIA-SF Energy and Sustainability
Design Citation Award.

Winner, First Place of U.C. Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment’s 2007 National “Livable Buildings Awards” for its "exceptional performance in occupant satisfaction, resource efficiency, and overall design".

Jury Comments: "The Kirsch Center has so many ratings in the top 100 percentile. ..And it has acoustical, comfort, and air quality scores just not heard of in almost any buildings." "It looks like a very, very livable building indeed."
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As one of the first examples of a sustainable “green” building in the California Community College system, the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies is an opportunity to showcase energy efficiency and renewable energy technology to a large audience. It will provide momentum for other community colleges to design and construct sustainable buildings as well as use these standards on renovation projects.

The 22,000-square foot Kirsch Center is a state-of-the-art educational center combining interdisciplinary studies, energy management technology, and community outreach. Electrical energy use is projected to be at least 88% lower than a comparable building which meets California’s new Title 24 energy standards.

Working with Dave Deppen, Project Architect and Sim Van der Ryn, I co-facilitated a series of design workshops at the College and a series of workshops with the engineers, to better integrate technical and aesthetic options at an early design stage. I was responsible for coordinating the team’s sketches into a schematic design.

This building is unique in that half of the building is designed for natural ventilation and the other half uses forced air ventilation with a raised floor.

“The kids want to be here. They don’t want to leave. It’s gone beyond all our expectations.”
Julie Phillips, Director, Environmental Studies Department

Fall 2006 - (Dass Engineers Photography)

First floor plan (no A/C on the west wing; raised floor plenum on the east wing)

Second floor plan

Deanza Livable Buildings Award Submission (33 page print resolution.pdf, 4 megs)