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Emissions associated with building, maintaining, and operating campus buildings over their lifecycle represent a large portion of institutional greenhouse gas emissions. Actions that institutions can take to reduce and eventually eliminate these emissions include:
- foresighted campus planning to minimize the physical footprint of campus facilities
- meeting or exceeding the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Silver standard or equivalent for new construction
- meeting or exceeding the LEED Silver standard or equivalent for facility renovation projects
- meeting or exceeding the LEED Existing Building Silver standard for campus facilities.
- progressively raising the bar for building performance, conducting research, and experimenting with zero-emissions, net-energy producing buildings
- promoting education for sustainable design and engaging students to work on projects on campus
Model Initiatives
The Los Angeles Community College District, encompassing nine colleges that collectively educate over 130,000 students per year, is currently undertaking one of the largest public sector sustainable building efforts in the U.S. More than 18 American colleges and universities have adopted "LEED" (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building policies, and another 9 have approved policies that require green design for all new buildings. The improved performance of green buildings, coupled with cost savings, have prompted over 10 states to require all new state-funded or public buildings to comply with LEED standards.
Bren Hall at the University of California, Santa Barbara was the first laboratory building in the US to earn LEED Platinum certification. According to the school, the building cost $26 million and building in a sustainable manner added only 2% to the total cost of construction - an addition that will easily be recovered through energy savings over time.
Harvard University's High Performance Building Services program is the result of a partnership between the Harvard Real Estate Services and the Harvard Green Campus Initiative. The services the program provides include design expertise, LEED certification assistance, funding options, performance assessments and more. As a result, Harvard has six LEED projects, aggressive conservation and efficiency upgrade programs, and educational offerings.
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