Jefferson Scholars enjoy green new home

Some of the University of Virginia’s brightest thinkers now have a place to congregate that officials say would have made Thomas Jefferson proud.

The Jefferson Scholars Foundation, a privately funded group whose mission is to attract and recruit the brightest undergraduate and graduate students to UVa, has moved into its office space on Clarke Court.

The $22.8 million, 32,000-square-foot Jefferson Fellows Center has numerous environmentally friendly features such as a geo-thermal heating and cooling system, use of local building materials and lots of natural light. Rainwater is collected and reused to heat and cool the building and irrigate the site, and those who drive “environmentally friendly” cars get parking spaces closest to the building.

“We wanted this to be a place for our students to come together,” said Doug Trout, director of the graduate fellowship program at Jefferson Scholars Foundation. “We also want this to be a part of the university and the community.”

The organization, which until November had office space inside UVa’s Alumni Hall, wanted a place for their graduate students to fellowship, teach and congregate. It’s also a gathering place to bring prospective students, Trout said.

“We don’t want this to be a clubhouse for the undergraduates,” Trout said. “This is a place for our graduate students to learn, talk and broaden the scope of their learning.”

The building has office and reading room space for students, a conference hall, several meeting rooms and administrative space for staff. Some of the unique features of the rooms include pieces of glass used for writing boards, electronic devices that allow students to reserve meeting space online and furniture covered with “heirloom” fabrics.

Graduate students played a large part in the design process of the building, as they wanted something that was forward looking and ecologically friendly, but also aesthetically beautiful, said Terry Scott Forbes, associate principal for VMDO Architects in Charlottesville, the company that designed the building.

“[Students] wanted spaces where they could intermingle with each other and also places where they could have quiet spaces,” Forbes said. “[Designing the building] was easy because they knew what they wanted.”

The center gives foundation fellows a place where they can all meet together, Trout said, something that couldn’t always happen when they were spread out in the university’s different schools. Students are required to share office space with fellows in areas of study other than their own.

With construction completed, the foundation is hoping to achieve gold-standard Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, the highest green building certification. It’s a goal the students themselves have encouraged foundation staff to work toward, Forbes said.

Having more buildings like the Jefferson Fellows Center is a goal the James River Green Building Council is working toward. Forbes led a group of JRGBC members on a tour of the building Tuesday night.

The JRGBC is a nonprofit group that works to create a positive impact on the regions building environment by promoting green building practices.

“Buildings account for more than 40 percent of our overall energy use in the United States and it’s vital for companies and building owners to consider the long-term costs of owning and operating a building when they decide to build or renovate,” said Megan Miller, executive director of the JRGBC. “Charlottesville has been a trendsetter and a leader in forwarding the green building movement.”

For those who work for the foundation, the center is a gathering place for students and a recruiting tool for future students.

“It’s almost a building you want to reach out and touch,” Trout said. “We really believe [this center] will allow us to attract some of the world’s best and brightest students and we’re excited about that.”