The entrance to the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center immediately draws attention to a large display of orange banners, awards and memorabilia. But what is not instantly noticeable is the building’s high level of environmental performance.

Syracuse University’s Melo Center has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification for its construction, which was celebrated at the center Tuesday. The distinction was established by the U.S. Green Building Council and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute, according to a Feb. 10 SU News release.

LEED is the nation’s premiere program for the construction, design and operation of high-performance green buildings. The center is the latest addition to SU’s list of LEED-certified buildings, which include Ernie Davis Hall, the Syracuse Center of Excellence and two Near Westside ‘From the Ground Up’ homes, according to the release.

S. Richard Fedrizzi, president, CEO and founding chair of the U.S. Green Building Council and SU alumnus, presented SU with the LEED plaque. He commended the university for taking the initiative to create a green, environmentally friendly building.

‘It’s amazing that the university will do the right thing even when no one is looking,’ he said. ‘When people come into the building they don’t say, ‘Oh, it’s a LEED building,’ and so the university could’ve taken a pass and decided not to worry about it. But that’s not what they do. They do the right thing.’

The complex consists of a state-of-the-art basketball center with full practice courts reaching 13,750 square feet as well as men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms, film rooms, coaches suites, a strength and conditioning facility and an academic suite. The center also features an athletic training suite, which includes top-grade pools, a hydro-therapy room, an equipment room, and men’s and women’s coaching staff locker room suites, according to the release.

The building earned the sustainability award for its use of 30 percent less water and nearly 20 percent less energy than a typical new building. Thirty thousand cubic yards of soil were removed to create the footprint of the building, but more than half of the construction and demolition waste was recycled or reused. Approximately 20 percent of the materials in the building are made from recycled matter, according to the release.

Kirk Narburgh, partner at King+King Architects, praised the design and construction teams for their work, and said he believes the building’s sustainable features will enhance the lives of men’s and women’s basketball coaches, staff and student athletes.

‘We are always so grateful when we can take our clients’ vision and turn it into a reality,’ he said. ‘I think one of the key elements is that we can’t do this without a cohesive team to make it a reality for the men’s basketball program.’

Eric Beattie, director of SU’s Office of Campus Planning, Design and Construction, said the design and construction team is proud of the center and happy to have partnered with SU Athletics to create a facility that achieves energy-efficient goals.

‘We really want to thank people in the university from various departments who all came together to build the building,’ he said. ‘And we want to thank the engineers and all the personnel responsible for making sure where everything was going and all steps that were taken to make sure that this could come out as a sustainable building.’

The Melo Center, worth $19 million, first opened in 2009, according to the release. The center is named after New York Knicks and former Orange basketball player Carmelo Anthony, who helped lead SU to the 2003 NCAA men’s basketball championship and provided one of the largest individual donations to SU Athletics.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and King+King Architects designed the building, and it was constructed by Hayner Hoyt Corp., according to the release.

meltagou@syr.edu 

Published on February 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri