The Richard Ivey School of Business broke ground yesterday on a $100-million building that will meet the gold standard as a "green" building.

The high environmental standards were made possible by a portion of a $15-million donation from the Ivey family, the latest in a long line of donations from the family that has been the school's foundation for most of its history.

The building will be designed to meet the highest standards of the Canadian Green Building Council.

On hand for the ground-turning, Richard M. (Dick) Ivey recalled his days as an undergraduate 65 years ago.

In the 1950s, his father, Richard G. Ivey, helped to plan and raise funds for the school's current building that served students for more than 50 years.

"He would be thrilled to know that the school has grown to the extent it has and achieved a leadership position in the world," Ivey said.

The $15-million Ivey donation includes $5 million for the "green" building and an additional $10 million to support programs and initiatives in leadership and corporate responsibility.

Dean Carol Stephenson said the new building will be an important asset because of the keen competition among business schools.

The building will be 234,000 square feet, 50% larger than the existing school. Stephenson said it will allow undergraduate enrolment to grow to 800 students from 500 and the MBA program to double to 300 students.

"We will really need great business leaders in Canada in the future and we probably should be producing more of them," Stephenson said.

The glass and stone building is being constructed on Western Rd. in front of Brescia University College and should be completed in 2011.

The federal and provincial governments each contributed $25 million, with another $22.5 million from the University of Western Ontario and the remainder from private and alumni fundraising.

"This building will be so spectacular it will be a landmark not only for Western and London, but for all of Canada," said Stephenson.

Hank Daniszewski is a Free Press reporter.