This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
By Ellen Berry
College students may still have to burn the midnight oil, but many of their classrooms, libraries, residence halls, laboratories, student centers, and stadiums are healthier, more efficient environments.
Over the last year, approximately 20 higher-education buildings in the US were certified as LEED Platinum - the highest level of green building recognized by the LEED international benchmark. In addition to being built with environmentally-responsible materials and practices, these projects are inspiring in their design, innovation, and thought leadership.
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Significance of LEED Certification
Established by the USGreenBuildingCouncil (USGBC), the Leadership in Energy Efficiency and Development (LEED) is a program for certifying new construction and renovation of residential and commercial buildings in 20 countries. There are five levels of certification: Certified, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
In order to be certified, projects must meet standards for sustainability in design and construction. Negative impacts on the environment and its inhabitants must be reduced or eliminated through:
Conscientious site planning and design
Efficient use of energy sources such as sunlight, wind, and water
Use of renewable materials and resources
Quality of indoor environments
Higher-Education Platinum Buildings in 2011
More than 3000 non-residential buildings in 42 countries were certified by LEED in 2011, 192 of them in 15 countries as platinum (data available are current through November 2011 from the GreenBuildingCertificationInstitute; only projects where the primary contact person gave consent were included).
Of platinum certified commercial buildings, 148 of those were in the US. Approximately 20 platinum buildings were associated with higher education campuses, including:
BlackfeetCommunityCollege, Math / Sciencebuilding - Browning, MT
The first tribal building in the US to be awarded LEED platinum, the 13,000-square-foot South Wind Lodge was also the first education building in Montana to be platinum certified
Natural light is maximized with insulating glass and translucent panel skylights covered by blinds that are activated by light sensors
Incorporating the tradition of Blackfeet tepee poles, an overhang shades the exterior in the summer
Photo Credit: Concordia University - Wisconsin
ConcordiaUniversity - Wisconsin, CenterforEnvironmentalStewardship - Mequon, WI
The CCES was the second Wisconsin higher education building to be designated LEED Platinum
The facility uses geothermal heating and cooling, and three forms of solar energy: passive energy conservation, photovoltaic, and thermal for hot water
FloridaAtlanticUniversity, Engineering & ComputerSciencebuilding - Boca Raton, FL
FAU’s five-story Engineering and Computer Science building was the first in Florida to be awarded LEED-Platinum certification
Chilled beam technology was used to cut down on energy usage by mechanical systems
Heat gain from the data center’s computer servers and UPS is captured with heat exchangers
90 percent of the building’s occupied rooms are lighted naturally
HarvardUniversityB1 Annex, NorthwestLabs, SEAS - Cambridge, MA
One of two Harvard buildings to be certified LEED Platinum in 2011, the subterranean B1 Annex was created by converting a section of a four-level parking garage
Acoustic treatments were used to mitigate noise and vibration of HVAC equipment
Skylights bring natural light to some of the common spaces in the underground facility
The second Harvard facility to be platinum certified was VlassakLab, SEAS
HockingCollege, EnergyInstitute - Logan, OH
The first LEED Platinum-certified educational building in Ohio, the Hocking College Energy Institute uses less than half the energy of conventional buildings that are similar in size and purpose, and was built for the same cost
Native vegetation covers a 4,000-square-foot roof, reducing stormwater runoff; wetland retention ponds and bioswales are used to retain runoff for on-site use
The facility provides a refueling station for alternative energy vehicles
HudsonValleyCommunityCollege, TEC-SMART - Malta, NY
Hudson Valley’s Training and Education Center for Semiconductor Manufacturing and Alternative and Renewable Technologies (TEC-SMART) contains classrooms and laboratories used to train students in the manufacturing and implementation of semiconductors and environmentally-responsible technologies
HVCC was the first community college in New York State to achieve LEED Platinum certification
LubbockChristianUniversity, WelcomeCenter - Lubbock, TX
The Cardwell Welcome Center has an all-glass rotunda with double-paned glass windows containing argon and a transparent, reflective film that are three times more efficient than traditional commercial windows
A lake was enlarged to serve as a heat sink for ground-source HVAC heat pumps, which use the refrigerant R 410A instead of Freon; the lake also helps retain campus stormwater runoff for reuse
Photo Credit: New York School of Interior Design
NewYorkSchoolofInteriorDesign, GraduateCenter - New York, NY
The 40,000-square-foot Graduate Center was designed to remove barriers to creativity and encourage interaction between faculty and students
Floor-to-ceiling windows and daylight-harvesting technology maximize sun energy
A water-cooled HVAC system and electrical usage sub-metering help modulate and monitor energy consumption
OregonStateUniversity, EnergyCenter - Corvallis, OR
The OSU Energy Center, which replaced a 90-year-old heat plant, was the first platinum-rated power facility in the US
The combined use of heating and electricity, called cogeneration, allows the OSU campus to generate nearly half of its electrical needs on site; the university expects to save approximately $650,000 per year in energy costs
PortlandStateUniversity, LincolnHall - Portland, OR
Lincoln Hall is the seventh LEED certified building on the PSU campus
The renovation of the 100-year-old building addressed seismic vulnerabilities and old hazardous materials like asbestos
Solar panels and double-paned windows make use of sunlight
RichlandCollege, SabineHallsciencebuilding - Dallas, TX
A 57,000-gallon cistern under the 118,000-square-foot Sabine Hall collects roof runoff, rainwater, and building condensate for use in toilet operation and landscape irrigation
To reduce cooling costs in summer temperatures, the roof is covered with white reflective material, a green roof terrace, and native plants on walls
UniversityofMontana, PayneFamilyNativeAmericanCenter- Missoula, MT
At the time of its completion in 2010, UM’s Payne Family Native American Center was the first building on campus to achieve LEED-Platinum certification, and the first of its kind on any university campus in the US
During construction, only one tree was removed and later salvaged
12 poles that represent Montana’s 12 tribes were dredged from the Blackfoot River and encircle a gathering area
UniversityofCalifornia - SantaBarbara, TiptonMeetingHouse - Santa Ynez, CA
UCSB’s Tipton Meeting House is a 3,000 square foot visitor center for Santa Barbara’s Sedgwick Natural Reserve. The building uses 60 percent less energy than does a traditional building
Natural, recycled, and local materials were used with minimal impact on the land
Sustainable design features systems to harvest the sunlight, wind and rain, which provide natural heating and cooling
UniversityofCalifornia - Davis, GraduateSchoolofManagement, MauriceJ. Gallagher,Jr. Hall - Davis, CA
The most recent recipient of platinum certification, Maurice J. Gallagher, Jr. Hall and the adjacent conference center was the third UC Davis project to achieve this distinction
Other LEED-platinum campus buildings are the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, which was the first winery, brewery, and food-processing complex on the planet to go platinum, and the Tahoe Environmental Research Center in Incline Village, NV
UniversityofNorthTexas, StadiumComplex - Denton, TX
UNT’s newly constructed football complex uses 25 percent less energy and 52 percent less water than a conventional stadium, and its 3 wind turbines make it the first college stadium to produce renewable energy on site
Native landscaping was preserved or restored on over 50 percent of the facility’s site: permeable pavers were used to reduce runoff and minimize heat island effect
UniversityofTexasatDallas, StudentServicesbuilding - Dallas, TX
The Student Services building at UT - Dallas earned the 2011 Innovation in Green Building Award from the USGBC’s Center for Green Schools, and came in $1.1 million under budget
The lighting system adjusts itself to the amount of available sunlight, and 93 percent of occupied spaces have outside views
Exterior terra-cotta shades provide energy-efficient cooling when the temperature rises
UniversityofWisconsin, MadisonSchoolofEducation - Madison, WI
A renovated 111-year-old building, the Madison School of Education's facility was the first state-owned building to receive an Energy Star rating, and the first in the Midwest to use an active chilled beam system for cooling and ventilation
77 percent of the building’s core and shell was reused, and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood was used for 85 percent of new wood supplies
UniversityofVirginiaatWise, ScienceCenter - Wise, VA
Science buildings typically have the need for increased ventilation, and therefore traditionally consume more energy than other academic buildings. The Science Center at UVa-Wise was renovated to use alternative energy sources including on-site energy from 112 solar panels, reducing modeled energy usage by 26 percent
The building is projected to conserve 52,273 gallons of water per year - a usage reduction of 52 percent - through the installation of low-flow faucets, dual flush toilets, and waterless urinals
WesternOregonUniversity, AckermanHall - Monmouth, OR
Ackerman Hall was the first newly-constructed residence hall of large-scale in the US to be awarded LEED-Platinum certification
Heating ducts heat both air and water
An outdoor courtyard's surface is covered with a material made from recycled glass to help water filter down into the soil below
For additional information on green campus projects, sustainability profiles for many US and Canadian colleges are available on GreenReportCard.org.
Related posts: LEED – Notjustaprettyplaque, andcertainlynotperfect
Ellen Berry has been writing professionally for more than 15 years, and is currently a freelance writer for Braintrack.com. Her previous articles have included many pieces focused on colleges, real estate, and optimizing work environments. Ellen studied creative nonfiction writing while earning her BA degree in Sociology from Colorado State University. She worked as a freelance journalist for the Wilmington News Journal in Delaware. She now lives in Winston-Salem, NC, and in her free time serves as vice president of the non-profit organization In Need of Diagnosis.