Take the LEED

According to the university's Master Plan, the university staff views the university as a leader "in the practice of environmental management and stewardship." However, our university has received an overall C+ on the College Sustainability Report Card 2008 by the Sustainable Endowments Institute, and the university community is letting this poor showing slide by, no questions asked.

With the new journalism building, Knight Hall, scheduled to begin construction this spring, we have the perfect opportunity to earn some extra credit toward improving one of our unsustainable grades: a C in Green Building. In order to earn the environmental A that new buildings constructed at this university should earn, Knight Hall needs to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards, the U.S. Green Building Council's nationally accepted rating system for "green" buildings. With natural-light-maximizing site placement, a zoned heating and cooling system, well-insulated double-paned glass, energy efficient lighting and water conservation technology, current plans for Knight Hall are clearly eco-friendly. However, despite the university's recent adoption of LEED-Silver standards for all new construction and major renovations, as of now, Knight Hall will not meet all of the basic credentials for LEED certification.

Although I admire that the design comes close to meeting LEED standards, I see the shortfall as unacceptable. With the plans for the building scheduled for finalization within the next six weeks, I don't see why we should settle for a B building if making Knight Hall LEED certified could be a possibility that still exists.

If university officials doubt whether it is worth reevaluating current, but not final, building plans because we are so close to the start of construction, I beg them to remember that the project is "close" to the start of construction, but it hasn't started yet. When there is still some time to make this building the greenest it can be, why should we settle for less?

Of course, fingers point to money. "If we could spend $50 million on this building [currently a $30 million project], we could make it the greenest, most energy efficient, most splendiferous building that was ever built," journalism Dean Thomas Kunkel told me. Maybe if the college gives up the hope of adding a costly metal roof to the design, a purely aesthetic touch, it can find the extra dollars needed to fulfill LEED criteria. After all, when I spoke to Kieran Wilmes, a chief architect working on the project, he told me "going green is not necessarily free, but it's not necessarily as expensive as people think."

Tweaking the already-green plans for Knight Hall to meet all basic LEED standards would set a precedent that would keep the university at the forefront of the surging "green" building movement. As Associate Director for Campus Sustainability and Environmental Affairs Scott Lupin put it, "In five years, we're not going to be talking about 'green' buildings. They are just going to be 'buildings.'" Furthermore, a LEED-standardized Knight Hall would set an example for other universities to follow in our tiny carbon footprints. Never mind the fact that with the new LEED-Silver standards in place for all future university renovation and construction projects, it seems hypocritical to build Knight Hall any other way.

The Master Plan for our university frames this situation best: "As we proceed with the most intense building activity in the university's history, we have an opportunity to choose." We can settle for a Knight Hall that, years from now, will be judged as the building that was almost good enough, or "we can assume our rightful responsibility as a leader by honoring, protecting and enhancing our environmental assets even as we plan for the inevitable growth to come in the years ahead."

With just six weeks to go before design plans for Knight Hall are finalized, the university still has a window of opportunity to make the right choice. I urge the campus community to push our university to strive for an A by giving a "green" light on upgrading the design of Knight Hall to meet full LEED standards, whether or not the project gets officially certified. As the first new building to begin construction since the LEED-Silver standards were adopted at the university, Knight Hall should be the building to lead campus development to the brightest and greenest sustainable future.

Alexandra Adler is a freshman journalism major. She can be reached at aliadler@umd.edu.