green schools & universities section—green renovations

Green Opportunities
Existing buildings are a key component
in making a campus sustainable.
By Susan Haifleigh

Salem State College, Salem, Mass., is tracking sustainability on campus

The significance of green university to attend. And output, totaling 136 mil- an objective evaluation of
buitding initiatives on col-more donors and alumni lion tons annually. a college or university's ex-
lege campuses is becom- are asking that their do- Making existing build- isting level of sustainability
ing increasingly evident. nations be earmarked to ings more sustainable is and its options tor change,
Sustainable facilities are amake campuses greener or critical to achieving large- including estimated costs
reality and even a neces- to develop courses around scale environmental ben- and potential benefits.
sity for forward thinking environmental sustain- efits. Sustainability initia- Examining all these ar-
schools. Many campuses ability. tives in existing buildings eas holistically—ideally
have established an of- Much of the buzz also promote significant within the context of over-
fice of sustainability; morearound green buildings has business benefits, ranging all facility improvement
than 600 presidents of U.S. centered on new construc- from enhanced productiv- needs—can help schools
higher-education insti- tion. But the inventory ity to operational savings. identify economies of scale
tutions have signed the of existing buildings far But how can an institu- and bundle the resulting
American College & Uni- exceeds that of new con- tion effectively evaluate its projects most cost-effec-
versity Presidents' Climate struction. According to the sustainability options and tively. These categories in-
Commitment (ACUPCC), U.S. Green Building Coun- focus its "green" dollars clude energy efficiency, wa-
which pledges that they cil, existing buildings in where they will have the ter conservation, indoor air
will create a plan to achieve
the United States account greatest effect? and environmental quality,
climate neutrality as soon for 36 percent of total en- materials and construction,
as possible. ergy use and 65 percent of and site sustainability:
Prospective students electricity consumption. Green assessment •For schools looking to
also are considering sus- They make up 30 percent of The first step in identi- roll out green programs
tainability efforts as they greenhouse gas emissions fying the best strategy for incrementally, the initial
decide which college or and 30 percent of waste pursuing sustainability is focus often is on energy

e american school & university march 2009

green schools & universities section—green renovations

efficiency. This is because green initiatives can save

more effective energy use schools money. Campuses A leading example
can deliver the greatest can reduce waste asso- The "2007 Kiwi Green College Report" named the top 50
cost savings. An evalua- schools that "will help your kids help the planet," and Salem
ciated with building op-
State College, Salem, Mass., was one of those 50. The college
tion of energy performance, erations and maintenance;
has shown leadership by undertaking a ground-breaking
including electrical and establish recycling and approach to tracking sustainability on campus.
mechanical systems and conservation programs; Stephen Keyes, director of campus development, and
the potential for renew- and carry out enhanced Thomas Osborne, director of sustainability, saw value in combin-
able energy sources, should waste-management prac- ing the college's traditional facility condition assessments with
identify recommendations tices. The availability of green initiatives that would help the campus meet the American
for reducing operating and construction materials that College & University Presidente' Climate Commitment
consumption costs and de- have recycled content or The college wasn't setting aside funding for specific
creasing emissions. In some are harvested from sus- green initiatives, but administrators felt it was important to
cases, the savings captured tainable sources is growing single out projects and costs that could enhance campus
through improvements can significantly. Products such sustainability.
be used to pay for other as flooring, wood products, "We have positioned ourselves to be first in line when the
longer-term sustainability structural-steel compo- funding becomes available, and the best way to accomplish
initiatives. that was to know where we stand currently, what we want
nents or roofing materials
to undertake and how much it will cost," says Keyes.
•Water consumption can be obtained at prices
Working with its existing facilities group and a consult-
and treatment and the im- comparable to their tradi-
ing team, Salem State established a specially trained green
pact on discharge systems, tional counterparts. assessment team to identify potential green opportunities,
as well as campus water-use •Schools can identify and conventional operations and maintenance needs si-
practices, also should be as- exterior opportunities for multaneously. Tbis approach minimized deployment costs,
sessed to identify opportu- promoting more sustain- and the resulting data helped the scbool set its conven-
nities to increase efficiency, able campuses by assessing tional capital funding and planning goals, as weil as its sus-
tainability goals. By working on one portion of its existing
reduce waste and improve ways to employ exterior
building portfolio at a time, it has been able to minimize
water conservation. Install- lighting more effectively; the upfront investment and maximize tbe effectiveness of
ing water-flow controls on altering landscaping to the dollars spent witb a better decisionmaking process.
faucet and flush systems protnote native species and
As Salem State conducts building assessments in the
or capturing rainwater for reduce erosion; and mak- future, it will be able to build upon tbe foundation provided
campus landscaping for ir- ing better use of storm- by the green assessment.
rigation are some examples water runoff. It also is im-
of water-saving initiatives. portant to reduce or protect many other capital and quirements across a build-
•Indoor air quality, iarge surface masses sucb operational investments—• ing portfolio, colleges and
lighting quality and ther- as parking lots and roofing for systems renewal, build- universities can develop
mal comfort also are im- systems that absorb and ing renovations and new a holistic view of facility
portant elements of sus- concentrate large amounts construction. Schools may needs. •
tainability. An acceptable of heat and affect a site's single out sustainability
amount of fresh air pro- micro-climate. improvements for analysis, Haifleigh is director of
vided through a building's but those investments must sustainability solutions at
HVAC system is important be assessed in the context Boston-based VFA, Inc., a
to the health of all building Capital planning of overall campus needs.
provider of solutions for
facilities capital planning and
occupants. Eliminating With detailed informa- As schools make prog- asset management. She can
ozone-depleting gases from tion about the costs and ress—and see resuits—they be reached at shaifleigh®
HVAC, refrigeration and may decide to pursue addi- vfa.com.
benefits of potential green
fire-suppression systems investments, colleges and tional greening opportuni-
is critical to the integrity
of the atmosphere. Bring-
universities can evaluate
which initiatives will pro-
ties. Further assessments
may be conducted, for ex-
WEB 101
ing natural light into the vide the greatest benefits ample, in support of major For more articles on how to
interior of a building can building renovations or go green at your school or
over the short and long
decrease energy use and university, sustainable design
term. Each school will have large-scale master-planning practices and p l a n n i n g
enhance productivity. different financial goals. programs. By combining for energy-efficiency, visit
•Materials and construc- The potential greening this information with de- www.ASUmag.com/green.
tion is another area where initiatives compete witb tailed data about overall re-

american school & university march 2009