High Performance Buildings

Jackson Campus

High Performance Design Features
The site planning approach places most of the buildings on the northern side of the valley. The north side of the valley offers better solar access and moves buildings with high intensity uses farther from wildlife sensitive tree cover.

All two-story buildings and most of the single story buildings are located so that they are built into the hill, thus minimizing the scale of these buildings. Site and building designs are intended to be used as educational tools exhibiting environmentally intelligent design in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

Site (click on image to view larger)

Teton Science Schools’ new Jackson Campus is comprised of nine buildings. The welcome center, dining hall, two residential lodges, five educational buildings and the maintenance and outfitting center were all designed and built to meet specific high performance building goals and objectives.

In addition to high performance construction, there were two other key components to the design process. The first was to limit impact on the land, thus the nine buildings are concentrated on less than 2% of the 880-acre campus. The second was to use this tremendously rich and varied natural resource as a land-learning lab while protecting scenic resources, conserving wildlife corridors and habitat, enhancing wetlands and aquatic habitat as well as utilizing the diverse outdoor study areas to foster an appreciation for conservation ethics and practices.

A few examples of the High performance building solutions that were applied to the project include:

Buildings were sited to take advantage of site issues such as solar gain, late day shading in summer, and building “into” the site. Narrow building footprints were oriented to maximize daylight, passive solar gain, and natural ventilation.

Thermal Analysis Software computer modeling was used to locate window openings for maximum cross-ventilation, eliminating the need for air conditioning. High indoor air quality is controlled with outside air using Heat Recovery Units that recover heat from exhaust air.

Concrete containing up to 40% fly ash (a byproduct of power generation) was used as a substitute for cement.

Metal roofs, wall panels, and fiber cement siding were to provide durable, fire-resistant exterior cladding.

Most building materials were left untreated to reduce volatile organic compounds and off-gassing that might occur due to toxicity of finishes. This also eliminated ongoing re-finishing and maintenance. Structural systems such as roof panels, wood shear walls, and concrete slabs were left exposed on the interior, eliminating need for extra finish materials.

Natural gas boilers and radiant heated concrete floors were installed to provide a high efficiency, low maintenance heating system.

Only carpeting with 100% recycled-content backing was used. Low-flow sinks and showers reduce annual water use by a target of 20 -25%.

Untreated plywood and oriented strand board, made from smaller trees and chips, were used to cover many of the interior surfaces. Engineered lumber structural systems used smaller diameter trees for production.

A demonstration photovoltaic system totaling roughly 6.4 kwdc (10 % of total energy use) has been tied into the power grid, permitting power to flow back into the grid at times of low onsite use.

[back to top]

Kelly Campus
While the historic character of the Kelly Campus doesn’t bring to mind high performance building concepts, in fact, there is a great emphasis on responsible solutions to common challenges. From using solar panels to pre-heated water, to utilizing a trailer as a mobile recycling center to overcome the distance from County recycling facilities, the Kelly Campus strives to be every bit as performance-oriented as the Jackson Campus.