As the University of Vermont community returned to campus for the start of a new academic year, the Dudley H. Davis Student Center, the $61 million campus centerpiece more than a decade in the making, celebrated its opening in a “green carpet” premiere — a nod to the building’s environmentally friendly design — on Sunday, Aug. 26.

Designed to serve as a much-needed central gathering space for the campus, the 186,000-square-foot Davis Center is home to a variety of student organizations, from the Student Government Association to the student-run newspaper and radio station, The Cynic and WRUV; office space for the Department of Student Life; dining options, including local vendor New World Tortilla and music venue Brennan’s Pub and Bistro; vendor space for student-run, local product vendor Growing Vermont and a full-service Chittenden Bank branch; and meeting rooms, including a student game room and the fourth floor ballroom, just to name a few.

Though the building’s 4.3 acres of space, 1,500 tons of structural steel, 280,000 bricks, and 23,000 tons of concrete are a testament to its impressive size, its environmental footprint has been greatly reduced through efforts to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification in green design.

The process for attaining LEED certification is multi-tiered, with registration and submission of design plans comprising the first steps. Now that the building is complete, UVM will submit construction documentation for review, and the U.S. Green Building Council will award credits that determine the level of LEED certification obtained. The university is hoping to achieve “silver” certification for the building. If achieved, the Davis Center will be the first silver–rated, LEED–certified student center in the United States. Notification of certification is expected by the end of the year.

“It’s an exciting time for the university community as we come together to celebrate the opening of the new academic year and the opening of our new student center,” says President Daniel Mark Fogel, whose ten-year vision for the university, presented to the Board of Trustees in 2003, included a new student commons as the brick-and-mortar centerpiece of the campus’ transformation.

“Not only is the Davis Center one of the greenest, most environmentally responsible student union in the nation,” says Fogel, “it provides a central location on campus for the many formal and informal interactions among students, faculty, staff, alumni, community members, visitors, and others that are central to the college experience.”

During the construction of the Davis Center, efforts were made to use recycled and locally produced materials whenever possible — the building’s 62,000 slate shingles were made in Fair Haven, Vt., and 65 percent of all materials were manufactured within 500 miles — three times the LEED requirement. Ninety-two percent of all construction waste, including 94 percent of Carrigan Building’s weight, which was deconstructed to make way for the new building, was reused or recycled.

Features like the building’s green roof, automatic faucets, and computerized energy management and lighting control system are anticipated to result in a 52 percent reduction in electricity usage and 40 percent estimated reduction in water cost. The green roof and radiant heating system under the loading dock will reduce stormwater runoff and help keep salt pollution of the remaining runoff low. Efforts to reduce the building’s environmental footprint will become educational experiences themselves as the monitoring system begins generating and displaying data about environmental technologies at work in the building.

Other features, including ample bicycle racks; showers on every floor for alternative transportation commuters; many south-facing windows for maximization of daylight; and benches, located in the remodeled tunnel that runs under Main Street, made from trees harvested on UVM land, promote and celebrate a green lifestyle.

Though the building’s construction is complete and all four floors are open to visitors, landscaping and finishing work will continue through mid-October. Learn more about the many features of the Davis Center and its green-carpet premiere on the building’s website.