With its emphasis on technological innovation, it seems most fitting that Ben Franklin TechVentures 2, the 2011 expansion of the business technology incubator/post incubator, has won a coveted gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). LEED provides third-party verification of sustainability in building design, construction and operation.
The $17 million, 47,000-square-foot building expansion, located on the Lehigh University campus in Bethlehem, saves 28% more energy than is required by building code, says Christa Duelberg-Kraftician of Spillman Farmer Architects of Bethlehem. Among its green features: recycled building and interior materials, solar panels, day lit rooms and a system of glazing and shades to augment heating and cooling. Coopersburg-based Lutron Electronics supplied the photovoltaic solar array on the rooftop and other energy-management and light-harvesting technologies in the building.
The goal, the architect says, was to boost productivity and comfort by creating a healthy work environment for the startups housed at the expansion, which includes offices, wet labs and meeting rooms.
“Ben Franklin TechVentures combines award-winning, technology-based business incubation with energy conservation and environmental design,” says R. Chadwick Paul, Jr., president and CEO of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Northeastern Pennsylvania, which owns and operates TechVentures. “We are delighted that our job creation factory is now a LEED Gold-recognized model of green building.”
Sources: Christa Duelberg-Kraftician, Frederick Allerton, Christie Jephson, Spillman Farmer Architects; R. Chadwick Paul, BFTP/NEP
Writer: Elise Vider