ASU Greek Community Center

The new three-story 33,000 SF Greek Leadership Village Community Center was designed for use by the Greek fraternities and sororities of Arizona State University. With a 12,000 SF floorplate, the first floor features council suites, break-out meeting spaces as well as a street level convenient store. The second floor features a large ballroom with a wrap-around, outdoor balcony for formal events. The third floor features staff and chapter offices, as well as small and large conference/teaching rooms. The unique history of this project's development as well as its desert-focused design can inspire other campuses to develop similar regionally sensitive community centers.

The first floor is elevated above the recorded 100-year floodplain to minimize issues associated with potential flooding. To encourage a more active, environmentally-friendly lifestyle, no parking is provided on site and the main entrance is less than 800 feet walking distance from an urban rail transit station.

Underground retention is used to capture 100 percent of annual rainfall, thereby reducing the disruption of natural hydrology and eliminating contamination from stormwater runoff. Highly reflective concrete and paving materials make up 100 percent of the Community Center’s hardscape as well as highly reflective roofing material to reduce the heat island effect. The Community Center’s landscape primarily consists of native, water-sensitive plants and features an efficient irrigation system that reduces water consumption by more than 50 percent over traditional systems.

This project achieved an energy cost savings of 37.6 percent. The total predicted annual energy consumption for the Greek Leadership Village is 3,422,300 kWh of electricity and annual fuel consumption of 6,109,000,000 Btu. Conservation methods include insulated wall and roof construction, low-E insulated glazing and high efficiency interior and exterior LED lighting.

Arizona State University’s Zero Waste department aims to achieve zero solid waste by means of 30 percent waste reduction and 90 percent diversion from landfill on its campuses. To achieve these goals, a comprehensive commingled recycling program is integrated into the waste management of the Community Center, encouraging students to continue to practice sustainability throughout their stay.

Sourcing sustainable material resources is critical in new construction. Materials made of recycled content make up a total of 14 percent of materials cost while regional materials make up more than 15 percent. Paints, flooring materials, composites, adhesives and sealants introduced at the Community Center are low-VOC content in order to protect the health and safety of university faculty, staff, students and visitors.