Muhlenberg College
PRE-2: Points of Distinction

Muhlenberg's newest academic building, The Fahy Commons for Public Engagement and Innovation, provides 20,000 square feet of programming, art studio and academic space. In addition to being LEED Platinum certified, it is on track to be the first Living Building Challenge Core-certified structure in the world.

On October 12, 2023 Fahy Commons won the Sustainable New Development or Major Renovation category in the Green Building United 2023 Groundbreaker Awards.

On November 16, 2023 Fahy Commons received a fourth award: The top Architectural Excellence Committee on the Environment (COTE) Award from the American Institute of Architects Pennsylvania chapter. Chosen from 113 project entries, Fahy Commons was selected "as an embodiment of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. ... All elements came together for a cohesive whole.”

In October 2023 Fahy was named the higher education winner of the international 2023 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Awards. The awards recognize “the most creative projects and products from around the world that benefit people and planet, as well as firms and professionals leading the way to a better built environment…[They] represent the highest achievements today in design that addresses climate change, ecosystem health, human health and equity.”

Highlights of the Parkway Boulevard Building’s holistic and deep sustainable design include:
Native landscaping, which does not require irrigation or petrochemical fertilizers and works to restore the natural ecology of the site.
Support for low-carbon and human-centered transportation with covered bike storage, shower facilities and electric car charging stations.
A rainwater recycling system, which in conjunction with low water consumption flush and flow fixtures, will reduce building water consumption by over 50%
70% energy use reduction through efficient HVAC and lighting systems, a super-insulated envelope, passive-solar orientation and a 60kw rooftop solar panel array.
Exceptionally high levels of indoor air quality utilizing continuous fresh-air ventilation and a green cleaning protocol.
Utilization of locally sourced low-toxicity and low-embodied carbon materials.
A fully accessible building and landscape providing universal access to a corner of campus previously only accessible via stairs.
Utilization of a third-party diversity and inclusion assessment tool to benchmark the design and construction teams.
Utilization of biophilic design principles to create a space that engages humans in direct and indirect experiences with nature.
Educational elements woven throughout the building and site creating a teachable resource out of the building.
In addition, Muhlenberg Professor of Ornithology & Conservation Biology Dan Klem—the world’s foremost authority on bird collision and bird-safe glass—and Acopian Ornithological Specialist Peter Saenger, worked with the team at Re:Vision Architecture to ensure that the windows in the building will have bird-safe coatings.

Beginning in Fall of 2019, Muhlenberg College offered a new sustainability studies major, an interdisciplinary program with the goal of instilling understanding, appreciation and thoughtful problem-solving skills with regard to the relationships and interactions of humans and the environment.

The College has offered a sustainability studies minor since 2007 but recently revised the existing minor in response to the rapid growth of this interdisciplinary academic field and increasing student and prospective-student demand.

Sustainability is often defined as meeting the fundamental needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Muhlenberg’s new major will explore effective ways to do this that will also generate economic opportunity and equitable development while ensuring social justice and wellbeing.

After the covid pandemic many of our student organizations had to be rebuilt and reinvigorated. Durring the 2021-2022 School Year a group of dedicated students in conjunction with the sustainability office reformed the student sustainability group enACT. The members of enACT are an extremely active and dedicated group of scholars who develop and implement peer-to-peer outreach programs and push for institutional change on campus. Their efforts in the past year included but are not limited to recycling bingo & education, updating campus recycling signs, clothing swap, green move-in and move-out, Earth Day celebration, plant-based diet advocacy, succulent giveaway, Halloween candy wrapper recycling, food recovery dinners, recycled bottle cap mosaic art event, and attending Campus Sustainability Committee meetings.