As America begins a fundamental culture shift toward a truly sustainable economy and way of life, universities will be one of the greatest sources of ideas and innovation. These institutions have the capacity to generate fundamental solutions to critical issues such as climate change and energy dependence while also preparing a skilled workforce for the anticipated demand for green-industry jobs. Campuses themselves are already becoming living laboratories for innovation, learning and sustainability.

The Lillis Business Complex’s Lundquist College of Busniess in Eugene, Ore., is a LEED-NC Silver higher education facility.

In a given year, buildings account for more than 39 percent of U.S. CO2 emissions, 12 percent of potable water use and 70 percent of electricity use. A typical North American construction project will generate up to 2.5 pounds of solid waste per square foot, with new development causing even more stress on municipal infrastructure and natural habitats. On top of that, poorly designed buildings can be just as bad for human health as they are for the environment. With more than 240,000 campus buildings in the United States, universities are in a unique position to make a dramatic impact on the environment as well as on the minds of the future leaders of America.

Many universities are already taking advantage of green building practices. For example, Cornell University’s Board of Trustees voted to require LEED Silver certification for all building projects that exceed $5 million. Emory University in Atlanta has been at the forefront of green building on university campuses. Emory has more than 1 million square feet of LEED-certified building space—encompassing more than 25 acres.

“LEED makes good business sense,” says Robert Hascall, senior associate vice president for Facilities Management, Emory University. “By building green we are reducing long-term operating costs for the university and our impact and footprint on the environment around us.”

Harvard University’s Green Campus Initiative, designed to foster continuous improvement in cost-effective green building design, uses the LEED green building certification program as an accountability tool. Harvard has 25 LEED buildings under construction or already completed on campus.

“One green building isn’t enough,” notes Leith Sharp, director of the Harvard Green Campus Initiative. “Those can be hard to pull off and feel like a great victory. But a great one-off physical infrastructure victory can only be leverage for broader change if it is helping to impact the ongoing capital approvals and procurement processes.”

The LEED certification system is directly built into the two largest sustainability initiatives in the higher education community. The American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) obliges signatories to initiate two of seven specific actions to reduce greenhouse gases. One of these options is instituting a campus green building policy that requires LEED Silver for new construction and major renovations.

Higher education campuses are living laboratories for innovation, learning and sustainability.

The Sustainability Tracking Assessment & Rating System (STARS) developed by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) awards points in three LEED credit areas for the use of LEED for New Construction, LEED for Existing Buildings and LEED for Commercial Interiors.

LEED is also recognized by many other campus-based sustainability campaigns: the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology Program and the Clinton Global Initiative Campus Program are two of the best known.

Certified Performance

According to case studies, LEED-certified campus buildings are using 20 to 50 percent less energy and 20 to 40 percent less water. LEED certification provides campuses accountability. Any building can call itself green, but LEED certification is third-party validation that a building was built as designed and is performing as expected. That performance is what assures that the building is healthier for the environment and for the students and faculty who occupy it.

Additionally, LEED-certified buildings are outperforming their non-certified peers.

Results from a study by the New Buildings Institute (NBI study) completed earlier this year indicate that new buildings certified under the LEED certification system are, on average, performing 25 to 30 percent better than non-LEED-certified buildings in terms of energy use. The study also demonstrates that there is a correlation between increasing levels of LEED certification and increased energy savings. Gold and Platinum LEED-certified buildings have average energy savings approaching 50 percent.

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org . If you’re at this year’s Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) Conference, held July 19-23,2008, in Montreal, drop by the USGBC booth.