The 2010 iCAP included a focused effort on the use of LEED Certification to incorporate sustainable design in new capital construction on campus.  In the 2015 iCAP, campus sustainability advocates recognized that "While the utilization of current building certification programs such as LEED has helped raise awareness of sustainable building standards, the campus could accelerate progress in reducing building energy use by shifting to performance based building standards for new buildings and major renovations."  The 2010 iCAP LEED goals are documented here, for the archive.

2010 iCAP LEED Goals:

Require all new construction to be LEED Platinum certified by FY15:

The LEED certification requirements were increased in fiscal year 2011 to require Gold level certification for all new projects.  This has increased the visibility and sustainability of all new campus buildings.  There is a proposal from the 2010 iCAP to increase the certification requirement to Platinum level in fiscal year 2015.  This increase would require additional funding for new building projects, and in some cases there may be conflicts with building codes or campus Standards.  

Completed LEED Goals:

Incorporate LEED principles into Facility Standards:

The Facility Standards for campus have been updated to incorporate many LEED principles.  As of 2012, a building that meets all the Facility Standards, will qualify for a LEED Silver designation.  Additionally, new buildings, additions, or major renovations are required to meet LEED Gold certification.  The additional points to acheive LEED Gold are selected by the individual project teams, rather than prescribed specifically in the Facility Standards.

The 2010 U of I Facilities Standards have been published and are currently based on LEED Gold certification.  The U of I Facilities Standards require compliance with all 8 Required Prerequisites and several additional Credits listed in the LEED Rating System.  The Standards list some minimum technical requirements and make recommendations pertaining to energy conservation strategies, but allow the AE the flexibility to determine how the LEED Gold certification is obtained.

Require all new construction to be LEED Silver certified by FY10:

LEED Silver certification has been required for all new campus buidings since 2008, when the iCAP was signed. Thee are four levels of LEED certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum.  Silver certification requires a mimum of 50 LEED points.  The Ikenberry Commons Student Dining and Residential Programs (SDRP) building and the phase A of the new residence halls in Ikenberry Commons is also LEED Silver certified.  This designation is required for all buildings that were planned or begun before 2010.  While many of the buildings planned at that time are completed or in construction, there are some future buildings planned before 2010, which will only be required to meet LEED Silver status.

Require all new construction to be LEED Gold certified by FY11:

With the successful attainment of LEED Silver certification for some campus buildings, the Campus advanced the LEED certification requirements to a minimum of Gold certification at the beginning of fiscal year 2011.  All projects which began the planning process after May 2010 are required to be LEED Gold certified.  To acheive LEED Gold, the construction or renovation project must qualify for a minimum of 60 LEED points.

The LEED transportation credit for encouraging low emission vehicles can be obtained if there are dedicated spaces for low-emission vehicles near the building in question.  In general, the University is not adding new parking spaces for new buildings, so it is difficult to achieve this LEED point.  One method is to add a Zipcar space for the building, and another is to add an Electric Vehicle charging station.  Grant Colella, a Project Manager at F&S, suggested a long-term plan to change all of the campus fleet to low emission vehicles, so the dedicated service vehicle spaces would also be low emission vehicle spaces.

LEED Lab

This multidisciplinary immersion course which utilizes the built environment to educate and prepare students to become green building leaders. In the course students assess the performance of existing facilities on campus and chose one building where they will facilitate the LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance (LEED EB:O&M) process with the goal of certifying the facility. At the close of the semester the students are prepared to sit for the LEED EB:O&M professional credential exam. To learn more visit LEED Lab. Under “How” the Welcome Packet and LEED Lab Timing Chart are available for download. To express interest please complete this form.

The LEED Lab Timing Chart is organized in such a way to help with sequencing of the coursework. Faculty can choose to start with campus credits first before focusing on an individual building or go straight to the building level credits.

The LEED v4 O&M Candidate Handbook can be found here. Pages 12-14 outline the job tasks of a LEED AP and what type of information GBCI will be testing. Information in the candidate handbook could be used to establish student learning outcomes for the course.

Jaime Van Mourik
Director, Higher Education
U.S. Green Building Council

see file

The USGBC Illinois Chapter Green Schools Higher-Education Subcommittee met, via teleconference, on May 20 for the first time.  One of the future topics identified was a discussion of LEED Existing Building and LEED Operations and Maintenance, so Illinois colleges and universities can consider the merits of implementing LEED EB or LEED OM.