DENVER (July 8, 2008) – The Washtenaw (Ann Arbor, Mich.) Community College Health & Fitness Center designed by Denver-based Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative has received Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) Program.

The Health & Fitness Center opened in September with a long list of environmentally friendly features that had led the OLC team to anticipate the LEED® Gold distinction.  The Health & Fitness Center at Washtenaw Community College represents the first award of “Gold” to a health and fitness center west of the Mid-Atlantic U.S.

OLC specializes in the design of wellness, recreation, fitness and aquatic facilities in North America, and recently announced its engagement as Architect of Record on the $730 million Cairo Financial Center. In designing the Health & Fitness Center, OLC addressed numerous issues of sustainability and environmentalism, including the following:
• Lights that turn on only when there’s not enough daylight
• Non-toxic and renewable materials for the floors and carpet
• A reflective white roof to reduce heat and cooling requirements
• Pavement in the parking lot that allows rainwater to soak back naturally into the soil
• Landscaping with plants that require little or no irrigation
• Interior pool water that recycles with the aid of appropriate filtering systems
• Recaptured heat with a central boiler unit
• Temperature control with room monitoring sensors for automatic adjustments