Marshall University announced today that its Arthur Weisberg Family Applied Engineering Complex has been awarded LEED® Gold level of certification.
The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the foremost program for buildings, homes and communities that are designed, constructed, maintained and operated for improved environmental and human health performance.
The Weisberg facility opened last year. It is just the seventh building in West Virginia to achieve Gold status, and the first at Marshall University.
“The original goal was to accomplish LEED Silver,” said Ron May, director of facilities planning and management at Marshall. “But, I am pleased to say that the project team exceeded the original goal.’’
The project was awarded 60 points which is LEED Gold status and there are four levels of LEED certification – Certified, Silver, Gold and Platinum.
The Weisberg project achieved LEED Gold certification for implementing practical and measurable strategies and solutions aimed at achieving high performance in: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality. LEED is the foremost program for the design, construction and operation of green buildings.
“Marshall University’s LEED certification demonstrates tremendous green building leadership,” said Rick Fedrizzi, CEO and founding chair of USGBC. “The urgency of USGBC’s mission has challenged the industry to move faster and reach further than ever before, and Marshall serves as a prime example of just how much we can accomplish.”“Building operations are nearly 40 percent of the solution to the global climate change challenge,” Fedrizzi said. “While climate change is a global problem, innovative universities like Marshall are addressing it through local solutions.”
Here are some of the sustainable building features of the Arthur Weisberg Family Applied Engineering Complex:
- More than 95% of stormwater runoff generated from the average annual rainfall is captured, treated and slowly released.
- A large underground structure along the front of the building retains the first inch of rainfall across the entire site and allows the stormwater to percolate into the existing soils to recharge the ground water.
- 100% of the site’s hardscape surfaces have a reflectant, decreasing the solar heat island effect.
- A portion of the roof area over the Advanced Materials Testing Lab includes a live roof, which also provides for an outdoor instruction and lounge space for building occupants.
- Rainwater is collected individually from various areas in the live roof and connected to the environmental lab, where quantity, as well as quality, measurements can be made and compared with untreated roof areas.
- Potable water usage was reduced by 40% over the baseline average of similar buildings.
- Portions of the water for the toilets are supplied by harvesting rainwater collected on roof areas.
- Building energy cost savings is 25% over the baseline average of similar buildings.
- 60% of waste generated by the construction was diverted from the landfill. When including site clearing, removal of existing asphalt paving and existing soil, 91% of on-site generated waste was diverted from the landfill.
- 31% of the total building material value was manufactured using recycled materials.
- 55% of the total building material value includes materials and products manufactured and extracted within 500 miles of the project.
- 77% of the total wood-based materials are certified in accordance with the Forest Stewardship Council’s principles and criteria, which encourage environmentally responsible forest management.
- All adhesives, sealants, flooring materials and paints used on the building’s interior contain low volatile organic compound (VOC) amounts.
- Lighting controls were provided for 95% of the building occupants and 100% of shared multi-occupant spaces.
- Thermal controls were provided for 74% of the building occupants and 100% of shared multi-occupant spaces.