LEED, Efficiency Standards, and Risk Fa 08

Overview

What are green buildings?

Green building focuses on improving the efficiency with which buildings use resources such as energy, water, and virgin materials than those built to conventional code. This building practice also reduces impacts on human health and the environment during the building's life cycle. The buildings are designed to reduce waste as well as pollution and environmental degradation. Ideally the buildings protect the occupant's health, improve occupant's productivity, and efficiently use resources. It achieves these goals through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal.

According to a report prepared in partnership with the US Green Building Council (USBC), buildings consume 70% of the nation’s electricity and a large part of the materials, water and waste used and generated in our economy. Because of the static nature of buildings, they comprise a relatively constant resource and technology consumption in our economy. Presently, there has been a widespread perception that green buildings are substantially more costly than conventional design and may not be justified from a cost benefits perspective. Despite their ascetically pleasing construction and design, this perception creates an obstacle to the more widespread adoption of green design.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Standard

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is one of the primary certification and ratings systems for sustainable buildings. It was developed by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to provide guidelines and ratings system for evaluating "Green" buildings.

The standards are defined such that a building may LEED Certified if the building scores at least 26 points from the following categories:

Categories Points Available

• • 1. Sustainable Sites 14
  • 2. Water Efficiency 5
  • 3. Energy and Atmosphere 17
  • 4. Materials and Resources 13
  • 5. Indoor Environmental Quality 15
  • 6. LEED Innovation Credits 5
• Total Points Available 69

A Building may be classified as falling under one of four certification categories:

• LEED Certified 26 - 32 points
• LEED Silver 33 - 38 points
• LEED Gold 39 - 51 points
• LEED Platinum 52+ points

Source

Dickinson College

Dickinson's College Center for Sustainable Living, know as the 'treehouse' received a Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. With this certification, Dickinson became the first College in Pennsylvania to receive a Gold rating for a student residence.

The success of the treehouse arises from a combination of technological and architectural features, as well as from the commitment to sustainability of its inhabitants.

Among the most remarcable technological features, we can find: - A high-performance building shell coupled with highly efficient heating and cooling systems, yielding energy saving of more than 17% over traditional buildings. - Water savings from a dual flushing system, low-flow fixtures, and the capture of gray water for sewage conveyance, resulting in a 54% reduction of potable water use. - Low usage of virgin raw materials for the construction of the building, by the usage of recycled materials. - Usage of only energy star appliances which use less energy than conventional appliances. - An energy monitoring office, where residents cna monitor energy consumption in real time.

Besides these features, students are commited to: - Taking 3-minute showers. - Never using a clothes dryer. - Using fans during summertime instead of air conditioners. - Keeping heated spaces during winter at 62 degrees F. - Reduction of waste production

Each resident of the treehouse has carbon-dioxide footprints that are half the size of the average Dickinson student, and they use an average of 8000 fewer gallons of water per academic year.

References

Links of Interest

[XL Capital's Sustainable Property Endorsement]