New Clemson building puts sustainable forestry on display By Lauren Pierce 5 hrs ago By Sean Smith
CLEMSON — Clemson University’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation has moved into a new four-story facility designed to showcase sustainable construction while providing expanded space for teaching and research.
The 82,436-square-foot building, located at the intersection of Perimeter and Cherry roads, opened at the start of the fall semester last month, according to a news release from the university. The new building replaces Lehotsky Hall, a two-story academic building built in 1974.
Clemson’s Board of Trustees approved the new department in 2022 and approved a final budget in 2023 for $68.3 million — $50 million in state institution bonds and $18.3 million in maintenance and stewardship funds.
The new facility includes classrooms, research laboratories and offices arranged around a landscaped courtyard that connects the building to a wooded portion of campus. Clemson said the design was developed by staff from the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences (CAFLS) in collaboration with Moseley Architects.
A major feature of the building is its use of mass timber construction, which Clemson described as an “environmentally sustainable alternative” to traditional steel and concrete construction.
According to Clemson, mass timber uses smaller pieces of lumber that are bonded together to create structural parts such as beams, columns and panels. The building incorporates southern yellow pine from “local sustainable forests.”
The building was constructed on the site of a former parking lot, which Clemson said helped limit the project’s land impact while allowing for increased tree canopy. Landscaping includes a reforestation area and the planting of more than 130 native trees to provide “a teaching outdoor laboratory and improve the current ecosystem.”
Sustainability also extends to the building’s windows. Clemson said the facility is the first on campus to incorporate bird-friendly glass, which features small dot patterns designed to make the glass more visible to birds.
Jared Elmore, a research assistant professor in the department, said window collisions are a significant threat to birds, with more than 1 billion birds estimated to die annually from colliding with windows in the United States.
A look inside
Inside, the building incorporates exposed wood, white oak flooring and custom shelving made from timber sourced from the Clemson campus. Blue, green and earth-tone finishes complement the natural materials.
Nearly 95 percent of the building’s offices and classrooms have window views, according to Clemson.
The facility also was designed for flexibility; project rooms can be used for different purposes, while three classrooms in the south wing can be combined into a 3,000-square-foot space. Covered outdoor areas and patios provide additional spaces for teaching and gatherings.
Sandy Priddy, the department’s administration coordinator, highlighted a third-floor seminar room designed for graduate student proposal and dissertation defenses. The room includes a patio overlooking Tillman Hall.
“We have 100 graduate students at any given time, so there’s always proposal defenses and final defenses — and now there’s a big, beautiful room for that,” Priddy said.
Greg Yarrow, associate vice president for strategic initiatives in CAFLS, said the building is intended to become a center for research and education focused on forestry and environmental challenges.
“It will help us lead into a sustainable future, where students and faculty alike come together to tackle the most pressing forestry, natural resources and environmental issues of our time,” Yarrow said.
“We wanted a home for (the department) that represented the character of the department and the future its graduates are helping to shape,” CAFLS dean Matt Holt added. “This building does that through its materials, its flexibility and its strong connection to the campus landscape.”
Reasons for change
Clemson’s new building positions the department for future growth at a time when both its undergraduate and Ph.D. enrollment reached all-time highs and research funding skyrocketed to more than $20 million in 2023 from $2.6 million in 2020, according to the university.
Data from the university three years ago said the school had seen a 48 percent increase in CAFLS enrollment in 15 years, with more than $400,000 in CAFLS-specific scholarships awarded annually.
Since Lehotsky Hall was built decades ago, it is one of the most energy inefficient buildings on campus, making its forestry building replacement necessary, according to the university. Pat Layton, strategic adviser to Clemson’s Wood Utilization and Design Institute, also attributed the old building’ deteriorating condition as another reason for its replacement.
“Energy conservation was a key cost item to getting it built,” Layton said.
While Lehotsky Hall will be vacated when the new facility opens, the existing building will be left in place for the university’s use, the university said previously.
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