Buildings follow Knights’ LEED

As more university buildings strive to be as eco-friendly as possible, sustainable construction has turned into one big game of follow the leader.

Knight Hall, home of the journalism college, recently became the first university-owned building to be certified with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating — the second highest LEED standard a green building can obtain — and officials said the rating is inspiring other campus buildings to follow suit.

"We have a lot of buildings on campus that are constantly being renovated to better meet the university's sustainability standards," said Office of Sustainability Manager Mark Stewart, noting university officials are looking forward to adding Oakland Hall to its list of LEED-gold buildings.

Stewart said the quest for new buildings to reach LEED certification began in 2008 after green standards set for the university required all construction and major renovations to campus buildings to achieve at least the lowest LEED ranking of silver.

Some construction projects, including the new physical sciences building and Knight Hall, opted to strive for the certification, even though they were in the works before the new mandate was passed.

Officials said this is because sustainability at the university isn't just a requirement — it's a commitment.

"It really demonstrates a passion about sustainability on the part of the schools at the university," said Stewart.

Knight Hall is home to some of the university's most green designs, including a 10,000 gallon rain water system used to irrigate the surrounding gardens, climate control activated by motion sensors and a wall of windows to let in more natural light.

"It's been a dream of the journalism college to have a building that's all about the future," Associate Dean Kathy McAdams said. "No one would have thought of this building 20 or 30 years ago."

Buildings that submit an application to be certified with a LEED rating, which is appointed by the U.S. Green Building Council, are judged on numerous sustainability criteria, ranging from building site to water efficiency, and can't be reviewed for certification until construction is complete.

But not all university buildings take on the challenge — major renovations to older university buildings, such as the Tawes fine arts building and the public health building, began before the provision, allowing them to build without meeting the sustainability standards.

Carlo Colella, the director of the Department of Capital Projects — which oversees the construction of university buildings — said even buildings that didn't receive the standard were still built with regard to environmental concerns.

"It's always been our practice to design and construct with sustainability in mind," Colella said.

Despite Knight Hall's lone status as a university-owned LEED gold certified building, Stewart said other buildings on the campus are moving closer every day.

Campus-wide green initiatives now in place include the installation of lighting in classrooms that use 80 percent less energy and automatic sensors on faucets that reduce water waste.

"Just because a building isn't a LEED building doesn't mean it's not a green building," Stewart said. "Whether a building goes for LEED is really up to the project design team and the building's administration."

Students who frequent Knight Hall were excited about the building's innovative green construction and were hopeful that other buildings on the campus would soon be inspired to make some changes.

"The windows are welcoming because it doesn't feel like a jail cell like some of the other buildings on campus," junior physical education major Chris Day said. "It wouldn't make sense to do new construction using age-old habits."

Other students said they supported the building's efforts to be more sustainable but added the university should consider economic factors before committing other buildings to environmentally-friendly construction.

"It would be nice for all of the campus buildings to be more eco-friendly, but I'm not sure if it would be worthwhile to spend money that could go to different things," junior art education major Jackie Landgraf said. "I think it's more of a gradual plan."

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