Siena Youth Center

The SYC is not a typical community center.  It took many hands to construct the building and make it Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified Platinum, and another few to beautify it with art.  Inside, you can marvel at the mural depicting the Santa Cruz Mountains in the background and tenacious competition between male and female soccer players in the foreground.  At center court inside and on the pavement outside, you’ll also find the St.  Francis Center logo proudly displayed. Finally, there is a bronze statue out front of a young boy and girl who, together, are holding up the world. Further, the plaque behind the statue showcases St. Catherine of Siena’s words: “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire!” Indeed, there are high aspirations for the youth of North Fair Oaks, and they can draw inspiration from the art and opportunity that surrounds their newly built SYC.

Although a small project, this is a project of particular pride for Triple Green.  Triple Green served as the LEED Project Administrators for SYC taking it from a target of LEED Silver up to LEED Platinum within the same budget. Working with a design and construction team who were largely new to green building, Triple Green provided sustainability coaching and training to team members, providing them with skills and knowledge to apply to future projects.  The LEED consultant responsible for managing this project, Kelly Gearhart, not only guided the project team each step of the way in order to optimize the LEED checklist and revise all documentation to reach Platinum, but she also managed the whole building simulation process reviewing energy modeling against ASHRAE 90.1 and California Title 24 baselines and providing feedback in order for the energy model to reflect all LEED requirements and satisfy prerequisite and credit criteria.