News

Awareness of LEED standards is becoming more commonplace. How has the University approached this certification program? What are the pros and cons for an institution like ours?

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a standard established by a nonprofit organization called the U.S. Green Building Council. We have approached LEED by first recognizing that we have been practicing sustainable design for well over 100 years, given the longevity and durability of building materials such as slate roofing, brick and stone employed in so many of our buildings, both old and new. There are many other elements to sustainable design.

LEED has evolved into a common standard that many building owners use to gauge the degree of sustainability for new or renovated buildings. The advantage of using the LEED standard is that it is fairly well organized and the most recognized green building standard. Drawbacks include the additional costs for achieving various levels of LEED, which can begin at 3 percent of premium of construction costs.

The new engineering building is the first design to aim for LEED certification. Will all future Notre Dame buildings follow this path?

We are also pursing LEED for Geddes Hall, the new women’s residence hall, the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center and the first building in the Innovation Park. We have adopted a project-by-project basis in considering LEED given that we design and construct a wide variety of facility types and the impact of the LEED standard will also widely vary.

Can existing buildings be certified by LEED standards? Will we attempt this?

There is a separate LEED standard for significant renovations to existing buildings. We will consider achieving a LEED standard for such projects as they occur.

Is certification enough, or are we aiming for Platinum?

We consider all four levels of LEED certification for each project, from basic to Platinum, but very few projects achieve the Platinum level.

What will the day-to-day users of LEED buildings experience? How will their “green” nature be noted?

Again, we have been practicing sustainable design for many years, not only with building exterior materials but also by using interior products such as carpet and ceiling tile made from recycled content. These new buildings have also been designed to incorporate things like occupancy lighting sensors and low-flow plumbing fixtures and showers (to encourage bicycle commuters). There will also be conveniently located reserved parking spaces in nearby lots for drivers of hybrid vehicles.

How does technology make LEED possible? It would seem that most of the goals would be most easily met by employing sensors, plumbing regulation devices and heating and air conditioning monitors.

There are many ways technology is involved in sustainable design. In the Stinson Remick Hall, for instance, we are employing heat recovery systems to recirculate heat energy being exhausted from the laboratory fume hoods that would otherwise be wasted.