by Jennifer Lefebvre
Many colleges and universities are attempting to green their campuses using LEED-certification standards. However, some of their existing buildings may be counter acting those efforts. In an article by Tom Robinson in Today’s Campus, he addresses some of the culprits your campus and green efforts could be up against.
The article states that on a typical brick-and-mortar campus, buildings can account for 60 percent of the university’s electricity usage and 30 to 40 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. LEED certification standards in new buildings can greatly reduce energy consumption by almost 50 percent. However, like many college and university campuses, 95 percent of the buildings are existing ones and not new nor are they LEED certified. This means that most of the buildings are gobbling up all of the electricity and creating greenhouse gas emissions. What is the typical brick and mortar campus planner to do? It’s not feasible or economically sound to raze all existing buildings, therefore an alternative is to incorporate new standards set forth by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); Energy Star; or LEED for Existing Building Operations & Maintenance (EBO&M).… Read the rest
