Release date: Oct. 30, 2002
Contact: Nancy Seideman, Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0640 or nseidem@emory.edu

Emory Takes the "LEED" in Green Building

When students walked into Emory University’s new Mathematics and Science Center at the start of fall semester, they stepped into one of the "greenest" buildings in the country.

Emory’s newest facility is on track to become the second building in the Southeast to attain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification through the U.S. Green Building Council.

First place honors belong to Emory’s Whitehead Biomedical Research Building, which last month became the first facility to receive LEED certification in the Southeast, and one of only 28 LEED-certified buildings in the nation. The intensive certification process evaluates the environmental sustainability of building design, construction and operation.

"Emory is proud of our commitment to a ‘green’ building program," says Emory President William M. Chace. "It is absolutely necessary that major institutions take an environmentally sustainable approach in planning and development given the challenges we all face regarding declining air quality, depletion of natural resources and traffic congestion."

In addition to the Mathematics and Science Center, the university also is seeking LEED certification for the Winship Cancer Institute, scheduled for completion in fall 2003. Emory currently has about 10 projects that will be submitted for LEED certification, or that are being designed, renovated or constructed according to LEED principles, for a total of about 1.1 million square feet—or 25 acres. Emory also has been selected to participate in a pilot program to assess the effectiveness of applying LEED principles to existing structures.

Emory’s board of trustees recently endorsed LEED for use as a guiding principle in the development of all the university’s construction and renovation projects. "LEED makes good business sense," says Robert Hascall, senior associate vice president for facilities management. "The initial cost of a greener building is recovered through lower operating costs throughout its life cycle, particularly in the area of energy savings. There’s also evidence that green buildings increase employee productivity, reduce rates of sick leave, increase the rate at which students learn and improve employee morale."

The rigorous LEED certification process outlines environmentally responsible building practices from the first shovel of dirt to the last coat of paint. The LEED system focuses on five areas in the design and construction of environmentally friendly facilities: building site selection and storm water management; water efficiency; energy and atmosphere; materials and resources; and indoor environmental quality.

The five-story, 138,000-square-foot center is the new home for the departments of mathematics and computer science, physics, and environmental studies. In addition to classrooms, offices and laboratories, the facility houses the university’s first planetarium, a 180-seat lecture hall, and a rooftop teaching space and observatory with a 24-inch diameter telescope. The center is essentially three buildings in one, connected by a slate walkway bordered by a floor-to-ceiling wall of windows and copper columns. The center is nestled in a small forest of trees, some growing within a few feet of the building. During construction, the building’s waste management plan resulted in a 90 percent reduction of waste sent to the landfill, and trees cleared from the site were chipped and used on site for erosion control and mulch.

"The LEED certification process is the right thing to do, and makes environmental and economical sense. LEED is very useful in that it gives us a system for evaluating the environmental impact of a project. And, it helped us create a wonderful building," says environmental studies senior lecturer John Wegner, a member of the center’s planning committee and an environmental consultant to facilities management.

Environmentally savvy touches can be found throughout the facility, such as bathroom tiles that once knew life as car windshields and benches upholstered with leftover seatbelt scraps. Other environmental aspects of the building include the following:

• A closed-loop cooling system recycles water to cool down instruments and lasers in the physics department machine shop. The system will reduce building water use by 2.8 million gallons a year, a 69 percent reduction for the building, resulting in an $8,800 annual savings.

• A storm water retention vault catches runoff, which is then used for irrigation.

• Motion-sensors in nearly every room automatically reduce air-conditioning and lighting output when a room is unoccupied. Numerous windows allow natural light to be used throughout the building.

• All janitor closets and copy rooms are separated from building occupants by thick wall partitions and are separately ventilated, preventing indoor air quality problems from chemicals and fumes.

• The building also has seven showers for bicycling commuters, recycling stations on each floor, and waterless urinals in some of the men’s bathrooms.

Emory’s green building program is one of the university’s many environmental initiatives, including an extensive alternative transportation program, the creation and continued development of a core walking campus, and a nationally recognized recycling program.

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