De Anza College has another reason to celebrate the Kirsch Center for Environmental Studies. The Kirsch Center was recently chosen as one of the top 10 buildings by the Center for the Built Environment at UC Berkley.

On Oct. 18, the Kirsch was chosen from those 10 as the recipient of the Livable Buildings Award.

“It was a very big honor,” said Kirsch Center Director Pat Cornely on Thursday, after accepting the award.

Cornely and others from De Anza who are focused on building a more sustainable campus, traveled on De Anza’s behalf to the League of Innovation for the Community College System event in Oregon. Representatives from colleges across the country and from Canada converged to discuss sustainability. “We’re never done,” Cornely said.

“If we could just develop and implement changes in our sister schools that would be huge,” she said.

The California Community College system makes up the largest organized educational system, so a move towards sustainability across the board would make a huge impact on global climate change and the environment, said Cornely.

The Kirsch Center has received praise from many sources, including architectural magazines.

“What really was so rewarding was these architects were so openly excited. Delighted that this was happening with this building,” Cornely said.

The news of this most recent award comes after the Kirsch Center applied for “Platinum” rating from LEED.

LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the national benchmark for environmentally focused buildings. The status of this rating was unknown at press time.

Enrollment in Environmental Studies courses has steadily increased since the conception of the Kirsch Center.

De Anza club WISE 37 was born from an internship program at the Kirsch and is credited with bringing organic food and biodegradeable utensils and containers. Members of WISE 37 will represent De Anza at the California Student Sustainability Coalition Convergence Oct. 19-21 in Berkley.

Cornely and all the staff at the Kirsch Center are excited by the news. She said, “The word is out, students love this building.”