UVM Slade Hall Project Awarded LEED Gold Certification

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Slade Hall is a 24-bed student residence on UVM’s Redstone Campus designed by McKim, Mead, and White and constructed in 1928. For many years, it served as a home for the Ecological Cooperative, a group of students dedicated to sustainable living, until the discovery of environmental hazards like black mold and asbestos necessitated relocation of students and plans for a full renovation of the building. In addition to remediation of environmental problems, renovations included replacement of the slate roof, energy and life safety upgrades, and general interior and exterior cosmetic repairs. Phase II of the project included replacement of most of the windows – a complex process involving a careful and thoughtful collaboration with UVM and the State Division of Historic Preservation to find the most appropriate replacement windows and develop a strategy for restoring the beautiful, arch-top window on the east façade (see “Historic Windows: Restore or Replace?”). Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a ratings system from the US Green Building Council that awards points for various sustainability strategies. The Slade Hall project received Gold certification for earning between 60-79 points (see scorecard here).