Buildings

Introduction

Buildings are generally the largest user of energy and the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions on campuses. Buildings also use significant amounts of potable water. Institutions can design, build, and maintain buildings in ways that provide a safe and healthy indoor environment for inhabitants while simultaneously mitigating the building’s impact on the outdoor environment.

Featured Resources

932 resources

LEED vs. Green Globes: An engaged scholarship approach to advancing campus green building policy

  • Pennsylvania State University (PA)

This study examines the value of student engagement in the advancement of green building policies by colleges and universities. The integration of sustainability practices into the design and construction of ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Designing for the Post-Carbon Economy: It’s Zero or Nothing

  • International Living Future Institute (WA)

Even if every new building were to obtain LEED Platinum certification, it wouldn’t reduce our current carbon emissions. In truth we need to focus on making all buildings be ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Next Disruptive Innovation in Buildings

  • Atrius (CA)

Join Vladi Shunturov, Oberlin College grad and co-founder and CEO of Lucid, for an eye-opening discussion of why software is the first disruptive innovation in buildings since the Otis elevator ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Dynamic Assessment of Sustainability Parameters in Residential Construction: A Case Study

  • Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (AB)

The residential construction industry in Canada is recognizing and adopting sustainable construction practices. With no recognized industry sustainability parameter standards and benchmarks, builders are challenged to effectively measure the sustainability ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Lower Socioeconomic Status and Sustainable Campus Housing Access

  • University of Arizona (AZ)

In 2011, The University of Arizona (UA) took two huge leaps towards a more sustainable future through the erection of two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum buildings ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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UB's Crossroads Culinary Center: Fine Dining in Sustainable Fashion

  • University at Buffalo (NY)

Providing healthy, sustainable food options isn’t our challenge; rather, the challenge is ensuring students choose healthy, sustainable food options. Through formal campus surveys and informal feedback we determined what ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Hospital and Lab Sustainability

  • Medical University of South Carolina (SC)

This session will consider unique ideas and give unique information on how to green university hospitals and labs. I will outline how the Medical University of South Carolina has tackled ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Reinventing Community: Oberlin College's Green Arts District

  • Oberlin College (OH)
  • BNIM Architects (MO)

The Green Arts District (GAD) is the heart of a regional plan launched in 2009 to transform the progressive college campus and city into a sustainable model of a post ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Iterative Adaptation: Dining and Residence Complex Renovations

  • Missouri State University (MO)

Renovation on a college campus presents the opportunity for designers and clients to refresh facilities and revitalize human interactions to maximize vitality on campus. Often the renovation process evolves into ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Benchmark-based Whole-Building Energy Performance Targets for UC Buildings

  • University of California, Office of the President (CA)

Most efforts to improve energy performance in campus buildings use efficiency standards as a reference point. Programs often specify energy efficiency at ten to thirty percent beyond ASHRAE 90.1 ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Experiential Learning Lab: LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance

  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)
  • Heapy Engineering (OH)
  • Purdue University (IN)

In order to achieve the short-term goal of piloting a LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED-EB:O+M) project on campus, an office of sustainability initiated such a ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Living Buildings that Engage Students (and their Institution) in Sustainability

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
  • Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects (MO)

There is a growing trend in education and architecture to create green ‘buildings that teach’, facilities that further occupant’s understanding and engagement in sustainability. Currently, the most progressive green ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Implementing Behavior Change and Energy Efficiency Programs

  • College of Lake County (IL)
  • Heartland Community College (IL)

Learn how the Illinois Green Economy Network (IGEN) offered three distinct initiatives designed to promote behavior change and measurable energy reduction within the business and higher education sectors in Illinois ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Passive Strategies: The Common Sense Approach to Energy Reduction

  • Lipscomb University (TN)
  • Lake Flato Architects (TX)

The path to Carbon Neutrality or Net Zero starts with intelligent passive strategies that reduce loads and minimize a building’s reliance on carbon based energy before active strategies and ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Using Intelligent HVAC Controls to Reduce Energy Usage in Residence Halls

  • Columbia University (NY)
  • New York University (NY)

Technology can be used to reduce heating and cooling energy use by 25-32% in Residence Halls while keeping students climatically comfortable. The panelists will explain how they each captured these ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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[eco]logical Succession: Cultivating Learning in Place

  • Carnegie Mellon University (PA)
  • Purdue University (IN)

Living buildings often rely on the Integrative Design Process to effectively gather information from a diverse ecosystem of project participants. This presentation will provide methods that leverage the design and ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Power in Numbers: How a Basic Understanding of Green Building Science Can Empower University Decision Makers

  • Husson University (ME)
  • Thornton Tomasetti (ME)

This presentation will introduce technical and non-technical attendees to the types of studies, metrics, and tools green building designers are using with today’s sustainable campus building design. These methodologies ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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LEED Laboratory: Training Students to Sustainably Transform the Built Environment

  • The Catholic University of America (DC)
  • U.S. Green Building Council (DC)

In 2012 the Catholic University of America, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI) entered into a formal collaboration to create a pilot studio ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building Blocks of Integrated Design: Goal-Setting Charettes Using the Nominal Group Technique

  • Harvard University (MA)

This session uses a flash charette format to provide attendees with a hands-on opportunity to learn specific strategies to engage diverse stakeholders in an integrated process to set robust sustainability ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Pumping Kilowatts: A Look at Energy Efficiency in Fitness Centers

  • Chapman University (CA)

Chapman University recently installed SportsArt’s Eco-Green cardio equipment in one of our residential fitness facilities. The SportsArt equipment captures kinetic energy and turns it into electrical energy that is ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Design-Build Block Semester: Student Engagement Through the Creation of a Solar Garage

  • Green Mountain College (VT)

This presentation tells the story of twenty-one students and one building, where pedagogy revolved around a single goal: the design and construction of a solar garage. The fifteen-credit semester was ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Historic Green Building, 21st Century Energy Monitoring & City, College & Business Partnership at Maryville College

  • Maryville College (TN)

In spring 2013, the first building on the Maryville College (MC) campus received LEED certification. Built in 1876, Crawford House is one of the oldest and among the first historic ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Redux: Re-examining Wood’s Role as a Sustainable Material

  • Perkins+Will (NY)

High performance sustainable design is often linked to advancements in materials and new technologies, however tried-and-true design practices and traditional materials are an increasingly important part of the practice of ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Innovation in Metering & Dashboards: A Key to Cracking the Behavioral Nut

  • University of Wisconsin-River Falls (WI)

The urgency for resilience and adaptation grow stronger by the day. Obviously, central to achieving such are the behavioral changes necessary in human consumption that maximize and sustain reduction of ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Modeling Urban Form: Expressions of the Operational State of Design-For-Sustainability

  • Ball State University (IN)

As a rule students do not have the opportunity to interact readily with those of other disciplines. And so they cannot bring to bear their respective disciplinary experience and knowledge ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Attack of the Dodo-Sapiens: innovative new models for sustainable development

  • Boston Architectural College (MA)

Our way of life is killing us. Whether by tradition or habit, the human race does some silly things that hurt us all in the long term. Our cities, buildings ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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An Innovative Self-Funded Platform for Scalable Building Energy Upgrades & Community Engagement

  • George Washington University (DC)

So you’ve signed the ACUPCC and perhaps you even have a sustainability fund – where do you go from here?? The George Washington University recently pondered this question and has ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Adaptive Reuse - Making Yesterday’s Buildings Work for Today’s Campus

  • Georgia Southern University (GA)

We will present a 20 minute video followed by questions and answers on the adaptive reuse of 6 historically significant dormitories and previous dining hall. These buildings are located in ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Financial and Physical Climate Change Resilience: Are Your Facilities Ready?

  • URS Corporation (MD)

The slow but steady pace of climate change is producing rapid and drastic weather changes worldwide. These changes are challenging the ability of facilities to perform their most basic function ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Energy Efficiency at Valencia College: A Case Study of Retrofits and Building Automation, Green Construction, and Behavioral Savings

  • Valencia College (FL)

Valencia College, a community college in Orlando, FL, constructed 66 buildings on five campuses between 1971 and 2012 and operates these buildings for their full life cycles. A critical aspect ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Green Building LEEDers in Higher Education: A Review of the Current Use of the LEED Rating System in the Green Building Policies of U.S. Universities

  • U.S. Green Building Council (DC)

This study serves as an update to the report entitled "The Role of the LEED Green Building Rating System in Higher Education: Recent Trends and Status," published in Fall 2010 ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Interpreting Sustainability Initiatives: The "Greened" Aiken Center at the University of Vermont

  • University of Vermont (VT)

The George D. Aiken Center, at the University of Vermont, houses the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The Aiken Center reopened for the 2012 spring semester after undergoing ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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University of Virginia Collaboration with Private Sector Generates Funding and Research

  • University of Virginia (VA)
  • Trane (TX)

Buildings account for 40 percent of the United States' energy consumption. The University of Virginia Engineering School's Rice Hall Information Technology Engineering Building is facilitating research that can help ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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ASHRAE Level II Energy Audit Program for Higher Education Facilities

  • Guilford College (NC)

This presentation will explain to the audience the value of conducting ASHRAE Level II energy audits for campus facilities in an effort to identify energy conservation measures and reduce future ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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USGBC Students: An Untapped Resource

  • University of California, San Diego (CA)

USGBC Center of Green Schools Mission: Green Schools for everyone within this generation. Students and staff at UC San Diego have proven that engaging the emerging generation in this mission ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Deconstructing a Deconstruction: Is a Ton of Recycled Material Worth a Ton of Work?

  • Williams College (MA)
  • Integrated Eco Strategy

During the summer of 2011, Seeley House, a small faculty office building and portions of Kellogg House, the one time home of the Center for Environmental Studies, were deconstructed under ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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New Construction as Inspiration for Energy Efficiency Retrofits: Loyola's Dumbach and Cuneo Hall

  • Loyola University Chicago (IL)

This presentation will share Loyola's experience in constructing a new building (Cuneo) and retrofitting a 104 year-old building (Dumbach) to achieve over 50% energy efficiency reductions in each. Working ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Designing for the Future: Building a Passive House Residence Hall at Emory & Henry College

  • Emory & Henry College (VA)

Nestled in the coalfields of Southwestern Virginia, Emory & Henry College is a small liberal arts college with big plans for energy-efficient buildings. In January 2013, E&H will open its ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Magnetic Bearing Chillers: Reducing Costs, Electricity, Emissions, and Noises

  • Radford University (VA)

Radford University (RU) is working towards a goal of climate neutrality. When it came time to replace the chiller that was located in Preston Hall, Radford University, consistent with its ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Challenges to Greening Your Campus Facilities Discussion

  • U.S. Green Building Council (DC)

Are you a champion for greening facilities on your campus? More energy efficient buildings? Better access to alternate transportation? More green space around and in between your buildings? Greener purchasing ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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The Four Truths - A Discussion on Industry Misalignments in Achieving High-Performance

  • Harvard University (MA)
  • Lynn University (FL)
  • The New School (NY)
  • Yale University (CT)

The presenter, through the lens of four very diverse case-study examples, will de-bug myths surrounding the design and operational of the high-performance, often high-intensive building industry. The four-truths: (1) Design ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Costs and Performance of LEED Platinum Buildings

  • California Institute of Technology (CA)
  • Davis Langdon, An AECOM Company (CA)

Most owners or facility managers would entertain the idea of achieving LEED platinum certification for their next project. There are two basic questions they have when asked to incorporate a ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Designing and Operating a Certified "Living Building:" Meeting Certification and Maintaining Net-Zero Energy

  • Washington University in St. Louis (MO)
  • Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects (MO)

The Tyson Living Learning Center at Washington University in St. Louis opened in May 2009 and on October 12, 2010 became one of the first two buildings in the world ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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A Large Stride With a Small Footprint: Reaching beyond LEED

  • Williams College (MA)
  • Integrated Eco Strategy

Williams College is in the process of designing a new environmental center to house a classroom, meeting rooms, community gathering space, faculty and sustainability staff offices, and gardens in the ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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WaterShed: the University of Maryland's Winning Solar Decathlon 2011 Entry

  • Ayers Saint Gross (MD)

WaterShed is the net-zero home inspired by the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem that won the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon 2011. The student-designed, student-built home features constructed wetlands ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Sustainability On a Rooftop: Dining, Operations and Academics Unite

  • Bowling Green State University (OH)

The Green Roof at the newest campus dining center was collaborative in design/construction and continues to be a living example of successful campus partnerships in sustainability. The green roof ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Demonstrating Affordable Net-Zero Energy on Campus

  • Indiana University Bloomington (IN)

Is it possible to achieve net-zero-energy performance and carbon neutrality in a retrofit of an historic residence with a tight budget? When this university's Office of Sustainability was presented ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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LEED Education Credit; Bridging the Gap between Design and Performance

  • Lewis & Clark College (OR)

In Fall 2011 Lewis & Clark began building a new residence hall that would continue its commitment to green living. The project's goal is to ultimately increase student awareness ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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Building with Consciousness

  • Maryville College (TN)

Seeking a form of shelter that can protect us from the elements of nature is a primal instinct we all share. The architecture of mankind not only provides us with ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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An Exploratory Qualitative Study of Green Student Centers' Influence on the Campus Environment

  • Old Dominion University (VA)

Green building and design is an emerging trend in institutions of higher education. It is important to consider the practices and expectations of the users of green buildings. The attitudes ...

  • Posted Feb. 26, 2016
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This tab provides access to data collected through AASHE’s Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System™ (STARS). STARS is a transparent, self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance. STARS enables meaningful comparisons over time and across institutions using a common set of measurements developed with broad participation from the campus sustainability community.

All responses reference content from reports under the latest version of STARS, version 2.2. AASHE membership and log-in is required.

OP 3: Building Design & Construction

OP 4: Building Design & Construction

Additional analysis on scores and quantitative fields can be conducted using the STARS Benchmarking Tool.

Buildings Partners