By George Foulsham

San Clemente Villages, which consists of four separate apartment buildings, earned the LEED gold certification.

Wilfred Brown

San Clemente Villages graduate student housing complex has received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold-level certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED is the USGBC’s rating system for designing and constructing the world’s greenest, most energy efficient, and high-performing buildings.

The San Clemente project becomes the largest LEED-certified housing facility on any college or university campus in the country, according to officials with the USGBC. San Clemente Villages features four separate apartment buildings with 973 beds in 325 one-, two- and four-bedroom apartments. It is the campus’s first housing facility dedicated to single graduate students. The project also includes several community buildings and a parking structure.

“This LEED Gold certification for San Clemente Villages is a wonderful testament to UCSB’s commitment to sustainable design,” said Chancellor Henry T. Yang. “Our goal was to create a housing facility for our graduate students that would be affordable, appealing, and environmentally sensitive, and would promote the values of our campus and community. Thanks to the contributions of our faculty, staff, and students, our campus has become a ‘living laboratory’ for the research, teaching, and practice of environmental sustainability.”

According to Marc Fisher, senior associate vice chancellor, facilities management, San Clemente Villages was designed to reflect the Mediterranean tradition of Santa Barbara architecture –– a style responsive to climate and known for its deep-set windows, arcades, and orientation to the prevailing breezes. Buildings are used to frame cooling gardens, lush with plantings and fountains.

San Clemente’s buildings reinterpret the arcaded walkways, with fountains, fireplaces, natural ventilation, and management of daylight. Courtyards bathed in natural light ensure adequate cross-ventilation in all of the buildings. Each group of apartments also features a landscaped green space.

“A lot of hard work went into this,” said Wilfred Brown, executive director of Housing and Residential Services and the driving force behind the green construction of this particular building. “Our goal for San Clemente was to create a project that incorporated a variety of sustainable strategies and practices. A lot of people worked together to make this happen. We had people from housing and residential services, from design and construction, from our student body, all committed to making this an environmentally sound project. It was definitely a strong team effort.”

Brown said that the goal from the beginning of the project was to attain LEED Silver certification. “We made a concerted effort to go for silver when we started,” Brown said. “We were confident in our team’s ability to reach the silver level. But we’re absolutely thrilled to get the gold.”

Part of the challenge was that there weren’t many green standards for housing or residence hall construction. “We had to look at what was being done for industrial construction, for new classrooms, or laboratories, and adapt it for housing,” Brown said.

San Clemente is the sixth campus building to receive LEED certification. Others include Bren Hall, Girvetz Hall, the Marine Science Research Building, the Student Resources Building, and the Recreation Center.