Carr Hall at Meadville's Allegheny College had been awarded the LEED gold certificate by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Gold certification is conferred on buildings for exceptional use of sustainable materials.

The hall features recycled materials, heat recovering techniques and energy-efficient lighting. The renovations undertaken at Carr Hall in 2011 were completed in August. The college spent around $4.7 million for the buildings upgradation.

Carr Hall is Allegheny College's project for the White House's Better Buildings Challenge, which the college joined in 2011. The college is one of the seven educational institutions taking part in the program.

This challenge, launched by the Obama administration for commercial building, hopes to make the buildings 20 percent more efficient over the next decade.

Through this project, the college aims to reduce its energy consumption within 1.3 million square feet of building space.

The building lobby features a herb and wall garden and an aquaponic tilapia tank. The wall plants are self irrigated as rain water collected on the building's roof is used.

Plus a store room has been created where the students are allowed to donate unwanted materials and at the same time take necessary equipments.

"It was so stark and unpleasant in here," Allegheny College sustainability coordinator Kelly Boulton told Goerie. "That's not the case anymore."

Earlier, the hall was utilized as a 260-seat lecture hall but now it showcases classrooms, seminars, labs and offices for the environmental science and physics departments, including the creation of the Richard J. Cook Center for the Environmental Sciences.

Other eco-friendly remodeling changes include counter-tops in new science labs and carpeting and furniture made from recycled materials.

The counter-tops in the lab are made up of "paper stones" which consist of recycled paper and resin.

Most of the building's lighting comes through "solar tubes." These lights can also be adjusted, similar to artificial lights.

"The light is enough to illuminate a windowless classroom on a cloudy day," Brian Gillette, assistant director of physical plant told the newspaper.