Cal Poly’s Student Housing Achieved LEED Gold Certification

Today many universities require new student housing that is being built to be “green” and utilize sustainable practices that save both energy and water consumption.  Conco was part of the team that constructed the award winning 2,670-bed Poly Canyon Village at Cal Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. 

The architecture firm, Niles Bolton & Associates designed the Poly Canyon Village, which became the one of the largest student housing projects in the country to achieve LEED Gold certification.  The finished construction even performed 50% better on the base building standard of ASHRAE (International technical society organized to advance the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration).  The contractor on the project was the Clark Construction Group, LLC.  The engineer was Nabih Youssef Associates.  Conco provided the expert concrete services. 

Bob Kitamura, Executive Director/University Architect (retired), Cal Poly said of the project, "Poly Canyon Village has been a great example of what can be done to further the green initiative in a living-learning environment. Both the builder, Clark Construction and the architect, Niles Bolton Associates, did a fantastic job for us in bringing this dream to a successful reality."

The Poly Canyon Village was built on a 30 acre agricultural site and consists of nine residential buildings that form a community that is somewhat removed from the rest of the campus.  The project also included on-site retail stores, ATMs, a swimming pool, mail center, study rooms, and administrative student support services.  Two parking structures provide 1,926 parking spaces. 

According to the document for the ENERGY EFFICIENCY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM BEST PRACTICE AWARDS, the project’s “use of materials with a high amount of pre- and post-consumer recycled content, such as doors, gypsum wall board, steel decking, and composite wood cabinetry, reduced the impacts of processing new materials.”  Additionally the  “regional materials and resources, such as local concrete, steel, and metal stud trusses resulted in lower carbon emissions due to the reduction in transportation needs.”   Overall more than 12,000 tons or 90% of construction waste material was reused or recycled.  

Discover the experience of working with one of the top professional commercial concrete contractors in the San Jose area.  Conco has been in business since 1959 delivering first-rate concrete services and has all the experience and expertise to handle even the most challenging projects.