Trevor Harrison, founder of HBT Architects, Pittsford, NY, and Scott Hemenway, a Rochester architect, will host the upcoming Environmental Studies Seminar at Alfred University with a discussion on “Ann’s House: Achieving LEED certification at Alfred’s Newest Student Housing.” The lecture is scheduled for 12:20 p.m. Friday, Nov. 14, in Roon Lecture Hall, the Science Center, on the AU campus.

HBT is the architect for Ann’s House and has also worked on Allen and Kanakadea halls in the past. Harrison graduated from the University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning, founding HBT Architects in 2000. The regional firm has received awards for both design and document quality. HBT Architects currently employs 14 people and continues to grow with projects throughout the East Coast.

Hemenway graduated from the State University of New York at Alfred with an associate degree in applied science. He has been a registered architect with the State of New York for 25 years. Hemenway was recently project architect for the Linden Oaks Office Park, Rochester, consisting of 12 office buildings totaling 659,000 square feet and housing more than 60 tenants.

Not only does its design make Ann’s House a template for future building at Alfred University, but it will also set a new standard in “green” construction on the campus. The building will be certified at the Silver level by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. This rating system, developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), is based on site selection and design criteria as well as building system design and the selection of the materials and methods used to build the building.

Ann’s House will be equipped with solar panels on the roof to help meet base load electrical demand during daylight hours. The building will also meet “green” criteria in other ways, with a high-efficiency heating system; low VOC (volatile organic compound) materials used for flooring , caulk and paint; low-e, thermopane windows; soy-based foam insulation; energy-efficient lighting and a heat-recovery system on exhaust fans.

The exterior will have natural stone and cement composite siding. The insulation will be applied to exterior walls, rather than between the studs; doing so will make the building more efficient to heat and more airtight. Building materials are being selected based on their proximity to Alfred, their recycled material content and the overall effect of the material on the environment as well as their life cycle costs.

Dr. Joel Moskowitz, a 1961 alumnus of Alfred University and a member of its Board of Trustees, and his wife Ann, for whom the new residence will be named, provided the leadership gift to build the facility. Moskowitz is founder, president, and chief executive officer of Ceradyne, Inc., headquartered in Costa Mesa, CA.

The popular Environmental Studies Seminar series is held every Friday during the fall semester when the University is in session. All the lectures are free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Division of Environmental Studies within Alfred University’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the series brings a range of speakers to the campus, including scientists, activists, and policy-makers, helping us to better understand our environment and what we can do to better sustain our world.