College of the Holy Cross Residence Hall Earns LEED Gold
Sustainable features of the $19.2 million dorm include a secure interior bike storage room, low-flow fixtures, occupancy sensors and regionally sourced and recycled materials. This is the second LEED Gold-certified project on campus.
Harvard U Receives 8th Biolab LEED Certification
The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences’ Mango Lab is the eighth space within the university’s Biological Laboratories Building to receive LEED certification. Sustainable features of the LEED Silver-certified space include efforts to divert waste from landfills, locally sourced materials and occupancy sensors.
U Colorado Boulder Sports Facility Earns LEED Platinum
The 44,000-square-foot volleyball and basketball practice facility includes rooftop solar panels that are capable of providing 10 to 12 percent of the building’s electricity. The structure is cooled with an evaporative system and is outfitted with low-flow plumbing fixtures, efficient lighting and high-performance insulation and windows.
U Iowa Renovation Earns LEED Gold
The first LEED renovation on campus, clinical psychology hub Stuit Hall incorporates daylighting, a rain garden to capture stormwater, occupancy sensors, low-VOC and formaldehyde-free products, energy-efficient mechanicals, and recycling storage and collection centers on every floor.
U Louisville Installs First Green Roof
The new Sky Garden is expected to trim 25 percent from heating and cooling costs in the two-story building it covers. Draining to a rain garden below to help prevent campus flooding, the roof sits atop a new business school addition.
Columbia U Achieves LEED for Neighborhood Development-Platinum
The university’s upcoming 17-acre Manhattanville campus has received the first LEED for Neighborhood Development-Platinum certification for a university campus plan in the U.S. To be built on a former industrial site, the campus will be an energy-efficient, pedestrian-oriented community that combines local retail, culture and green space. The campus is designed to create connections between the university and local communities, and between West Harlem and the revitalized Hudson River waterfront in New York City.
Central U Jharkhand Plans Eco-Friendly Campus
(India): The university has applied for a four-star rating with the Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment, India's national ratings system for green buildings. The university is designing a campus that uses minimum energy to power itself; uses efficient equipment to meet its lighting and air-conditioning needs and maximize the use of renewable sources of energy; uses efficient waste and water management practices; and provides comfortable and hygienic indoor working conditions.
Deferred Maintenance of Campus Buildings On the Rise
(U.S.): Deferred maintenance of aging campus buildings remains a nagging burden and recent trends suggest that the situation could be getting worse, reports a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article. The need for repairs and modernization has risen since the start of the 2008 recession, particularly at public institutions, and many major universities can tally their maintenance needs in the hundreds of millions of dollars. With state money receding and philanthropy an unreliable source of relief, notes the article, colleges increasingly face two options: charge students higher fees or borrow more money.
New U Buffalo Engineering Building to Seek LEED Gold
(U.S.): The new 130,000-square-foot building features "locally sourced and recycled materials; day lighting and smart controls to reduce consumption; bio-retention swales; and a green roof to reduce run-off," the university's Chief Sustainability Officer Ryan A. McPherson tells AASHE Bulletin. The new facility has been nominated as a finalist for Business First’s Green Brick By Brick award and received the Best New Educational Facility from the trade publication.
U California San Diego Student Housing Achieves LEED Platinum
Providing housing for 516 students, the apartment building's shape and arrangement works to capture prevailing winds near the Pacific Ocean to lessen the need for mechanical air conditioning. An on-site wastewater-recycling project provides landscape irrigation water.
U Massachusetts Amherst Music Building Earns LEED Gold
The university has received its first LEED certification with the new 15,000-square-foot George N. Parks Minutemen Marching Band Building, which features efficient mechanical systems, plumbing fixtures and lighting. More than 75 percent of construction waste was recycled.
Germanna CC Debuts Green Science & Engineering Commons
The community college’s new $25 million Science & Engineering and Information Commons building will be used to teach students, faculty and visitors about environmental technology, energy efficiency and sustainability. Using the mechanical systems and renewable energy features of the building, students will gain hands-on experience monitoring and calibrating a working green building. Sustainable features include a vegetated roof, passive solar heating, automatic shades, skylights for ambient lighting, native plant landscaping and a rainfall harvesting system to provide water for the restrooms.
Harvard U Achieves 75 LEED Certifications
The milestone represents over 2.4 million square feet of LEED New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance and Homes systems. The renovated Harvard Yard Child Care Center and Oxford Street Daycare Cooperative are the latest LEED certifications for the university.
Pennsylvania State U Building Awarded LEED Gold
The Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building includes a range of sustainability strategies including rainwater collection and a heat-recovery system. In collaboration with students, a "Sustainability Awareness" signage program has also been implemented in the building.
Wake Forest U Barn Earns LEED Silver
The on-campus student social venue is first building on campus to feature solar electric PV cells. Surrounded by wildlife and accessible via walking path, the building also features energy-efficient fans to cool the space in the hottest months.
Ohio State U Dining Commons Achieves LEED Silver
The university's Kennedy Commons features the original exterior from 1955, an effort to preserve the historic exterior of the building and minimize construction debris. Additional sustainable features include low VOC building materials and the reuse of existing furniture. Seventy-five percent of the construction waste was recycled.
Harvard U Lab Renovation Earns LEED Platinum
(U.S.): A two-year demolition and reconstruction project to accommodate the Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Department has earned the Sherman Fairchild Building a LEED Commercial Interiors Platinum certification. New energy efficiency measures include an internal heat shift chiller that captures heat from high-load zones and redistributes it to other parts of the building; occupancy sensors that close fume hoods automatically when not in use; and windows to provide natural ventilation in non-lab spaces.
U Queensland Facility Awarded Green Star Certification
(Australia): The university’s new Advanced Engineering Building has received a 5 Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. Sustainable features include a passive cooling system, natural ventilation, the use of recycled materials and building-wide monitoring systems that track the building’s environmental performance.
Champlain College Restoration Awarded LEED Platinum
The $12 million renovation and expansion of the college's Welcome and Admission Center features a geothermal heat pump to provide space heating and cooling, ecological landscaping for wildlife habitat and stormwater reduction, energy-efficient lighting and the use of local and recycled building materials.
Eastern Michigan U Installs Green Roof
The 3,000-square-foot rooftop garden, installed atop the university's new Science Complex, contains 16 plant species and is expected to save the university $3,600 in energy costs per year.
Maharishi U Mgmt Debuts Net-Zero Sustainable Living Center
Together, the building's 58 solar panels and 100-foot wind turbine are capable of producing 25 kilowatts, contributing to the building's ability to produce more energy than it consumes annually. Other energy-saving features include a heat pump and geothermal tubing, extensive use of daylighting, and strategic placement of windows and verandas. As more funds are raised, the university plans to take the center completely off the grid with respect to electricity, heating, cooling, water and waste.
Public Institutions Caught in Maintenance Funding Conundrum
In what Inside Higher Ed is calling "the other debt crisis," public colleges and universities are issuing their own debt to finance facility renovations, reports the online news source. Facing aging campuses, several years of backlogged maintenance projects, increased competition for students and little hope that states are going to fund the construction they need, institutions are "now catching up for several years of not being funded appropriately." Institutions that can't issue cheap debt are faced with choosing whether to hold off on projects (leading to an aging and potentially unsafe campus and more expensive renovations in the future), or funding projects from their operating budgets, potentially siphoning off resources for other priorities like faculty salaries and student services.
Rice U Renovation Earns LEED Silver
Sustainable features of the renovation of Will Rice College include salvaged roofing materials, water-efficient fixtures, occupancy sensors for lights and 54 new bicycle parking spots.
Syracuse U Basketball Center Awarded LEED Certification
The 54,000 square-foot complex is designed to use 30 percent less water and almost 20 percent less energy than a typical new building. About 20 percent of the materials used in the building are made from recycled materials and more than half of the construction and demolition waste was recycled or reused.
Finger Lakes CC Opens Green Student Center
(U.S.): The 78,000-square-foot building features stone quarried in the state, sustainably harvested wood products, 192 solar panels, low-maintenance landscaping, and high-efficiency heating and cooling systems.
Appalachian State U Dorm Awarded LEED Gold
The second LEED Gold certification for Appalachian State University (North Carolina), the new residence hall received high marks for stewardship in areas including erosion control, landscaping and stormwater controls. Additional sustainable features include energy-efficient lighting, solar thermal and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
Bowling Green State U Achieves First LEED Gold
Bowling Green State University’s (Ohio) Stroh Center incorporates a variety of sustainable strategies including the optimization of heating and air conditioning performance, construction waste management, regional and recycled materials, and water-efficient restroom accessories. The building was also made accessible to alternative transportation.
Columbia U Awarded Several LEED Certifications
In its winter 2012 newsletter, Columbia University (New York) reports several recent LEED certifications including LEED Gold for its research facility, Northwest Corner, and University Medical Center; and LEED Silver for its administrative Studebaker building.
U Arizona Residence Halls Earn LEED Platinum
The University of Arizona’s two newest residence halls feature rainwater harvesting, drought tolerant landscaping, low-flow plumbing and a web-based software that allows students to monitor the amount of energy the building uses.
Harvard Lab Earns LEED Silver
Harvard University's (MA) Kramer Lab has earned LEED Silver certification. A heavy focus was placed on the reuse of existing elements, as well as the application of sustainable furniture and materials. The lab is the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' 25th LEED certification, achieving an average total 25.4 percent reduction in lighting power density.
New York U Law Building Achieves LEED Platinum
New York University’s WILF Hall has been awarded LEED Platinum certification. A green roof and two planted terraces help insulate the building year-round and filter pollutants out of rainwater, reducing runoff into the sewers. More than 90 percent of all construction and demolition debris was reused or recycled. Additional features include bicycle storage and showers for commuting riders.
U Iowa Lab Awarded LEED Gold
The University of Iowa's State Hygienic Laboratory has earned LEED Gold certification. The building's grounds feature xeriscaping, which uses plants suited to the climate so that no special watering is needed. Ninety percent of the building has access to natural light and more than one-third of the building products are made from recycled content.
U Maryland Residence Hall Earns LEED Gold
The University of Maryland, College Park’s Oakland Hall has become the first LEED-certified dorm on campus with a LEED Gold designation. The residence hall features low-flow plumbing fixtures, energy-efficient lighting and solar reflective surfaces on the roof to lower the building's air conditioning use.
U South Florida Science Building Achieves LEED Gold
The new Interdisciplinary Science Teaching & Research building at the University of South Florida has attained LEED Gold certification. The energy-efficient building features high-performance glazing construction, reduced interior lighting, occupancy sensors and sustainable materials including post-industrial scrap and pre-consumer recycled content.
U Vermont Lab Building Earns LEED Gold
The University of Vermont’s James M. Jeffords Hall has achieved LEED Gold certification. The 97,000- square-foot, $56 million lab and office building features an underground central steam and chilled water system, occupancy system for lighting and ventilation, and regionally produced construction products. More than 90 percent of construction and demolition waste was diverted from the landfill.
Harvard U Building Goes Double LEED Platinum
Harvard University (MA) has announced a second LEED Platinum certification for its Campus Services building. The university initially achieved its first LEED Platinum certification with the building in 2007 in the New Construction category. Now, the building has earned a second Platinum nod in the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) category and has outperformed the energy reduction predictions developed during the original renovation.
Seattle U Buildings Go Carbon Neutral with Upgrades, Offsets
Through new infrastructure enhancements and offsets, campus buildings at Seattle University (WA) have achieved carbon neutrality. The university saves emissions with a new natural gas fuel source, highly efficient gas boiler loop and a manure-to-power project investment. Ninety-eight percent of the university’s electricity is produced from Seattle City Light’s mix of hydro, wind and biomass, and the remaining 2 percent is offset with renewable energy credits.
U Georgia Art Museum Earns LEED Gold
The University of Georgia’s Museum of Art has achieved LEED Gold certification. Sustainable features include two underground cisterns for landscape use, rain gardens, low-flow plumbing fixtures and passive solar design. Ninety-one percent of the construction waste was also salvaged or recycled for use on site or in campus projects.
Johnson County CC Health Education Center Receives LEED Gold
Johnson County Community College’s (KS) Olathe Health Education Center has received LEED Gold certification. Featuring a geothermal heat pump and passive solar design, the building consumes 48 percent less energy than a comparable new building. The center was also completed $1 million under budget.
McGill U Science Complex Earns LEED Gold
McGill University's (QC) Life Sciences Complex has been awarded LEED gold certification by the Canada Green Building Council. The two-facility complex features a heat recovery system, innovative management of fume hoods, lighting efficiency, and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems with variable speed drives. Rainwater captured from the building's reflective roof is stored in a cistern for toilet and urinal use, cutting potable water consumption by 50 percent. Ninety-six percent of construction-related waste was diverted from landfills.
