Yale’s new Sculpture Building is a 51,000 sq. ft. space that houses undergraduate and graduate Sculpture programs of the School of Art located on the west side of the main campus (on the block bound by Edgewood Ave. and Park, Chapel and Howe Streets).  The Building provides three floors of individual and group studios above ground and basement floors of classrooms, machine shops, and administrative spaces. Attached to the building via a lower level ramp is a 3,000 sq. ft. single room gallery with mezzanine space that will be used to display year-end shows, ongoing exhibitions, and occasional lectures. Adjacent to the Sculpture Building, on the west side, is a four-story, 288 space parking garage, the ground floor of which will be rented out as retail, restaurant, and Yale Security Services space. As a studio building, the quality of the interior space and the provision of a high quality and encouraging indoor environment is of top importance. The building's design features and construcion process earned it a LEED Platinum rating from the US Green Building Council. Some of the sustainable design features of the Sculpture Building are highlighted below.

Transportation
The Yale Sculpture building is located in an area with readily available public transportation. Bicycle racks are provided, and showers are available in the basement for people who ride to work.

Energy and Atmosphere
In an effort to achieve Yale’s greenhouse gas reduction goal, energy conservation is a fundamental focus of any new project. The studio space features a large expanse of windows providing a high level of natural day lighting, dramatically reducing the need for artificial lighting, and enabling views of the surrounding environment. The building is outfitted with occupancy sensors, which automatically switch off lights in unoccupied areas. In addition, when the natural light in perimeter occupied spaces is sufficient, the artificial lighting dims, maintaining a constant light level in hallways and offices. The southern and eastern facades of the building are outfitted with fixed external shading to lessen the summertime solar load of the building. The energy intensity of the building is 8.3kw/sq. ft./year.

Materials
Materials used in construction were chosen based upon the life cycle analysis of the product. Where possible, locally manufactured materials and products were chosen: 51% of materials were assembled and 78% were harvested within 500 miles. Paneling in the building is made from 100% post consumer recycled newspapers. Beneath the building’s external shading is a curtain wall that uses an innovative new product pioneered by Kalwall called Nanogel. The Nanogel makes up a translucent panel, which achieves a remarkable level of energy savings while providing the user with access to natural light.

Water Management
In an effort to conserve water waterless urinals, dual-flush toilets (full flush for solids and half-flush for liquids), and low-flow lavatories significantly reduce the amount of water used on a daily basis. A stormwater retention system collects stormwater from the roof of the main Sculpture Building and surrounding landscape which is used for flushing the toilets. The stormwater is initially stored in an outdoor 5,000 gallon tank, a size that takes into consideration storage during monthly drought periods. It is then pumped into a 400 gallon indoor tank where it is disinfected with an ozone treatment, readying it for use in toilets. These measures ensure that the building does not add to the municipal storm water system. Overall water use reduction is designed to be 65% annually.

Indoor Air Quality
The building’s studio space is outfitted with operable windows to allow personal control over studio ventilation. The first floor woodshop, spray booth, and metalworking shop are equipped with an exhaust system that ensures the swift removal of airborne irritants while minimizing energy use. Finally, to ensure that hazardous materials are not introduced on the studio levels and re-circulated through the building, an Aircuity air monitoring system has been installed. This centrally located testing device has hardwired tubing extending to each of the floors drawing air samples to test for VOC’s, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, humidity and particulates. It will be possible for the administration to use this sampling system for either routine monitoring, or for diagnostics in the event of an air quality problem.

Waste Management
A full garbage and waste recycling room is located on the ground floor while individual recycling receptacles are provided on all floors. Over 89% of the project’s construction waste was recycled.