Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 53.97
Liaison Stephen Ellis
Submission Date Aug. 2, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Boston University
OP-4: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.45 / 3.00 Stephen Ellis
Director, Data Analytics
BU Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space (include projects completed within the previous five years) :
1,332,167 Square feet

Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified Living under the Living Building Challenge:
0 Square feet

Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified at each level under a rating system for design and construction used by an Established Green Building Council (GBC) :
Certified Floor Area
LEED BD+C Platinum or at the highest achievable level under another rating system 0 Square feet
LEED BD+C Gold or at the 2nd highest level under another 4- or 5-tier GBC rating system 628,363 Square feet
Certified at mid-level under a 3- or 5-tier GBC rating system for design and construction (e.g. BREEAM, CASBEE, DGNB, Green Star) 0 Square feet
LEED BD+C Silver or at a step above minimum level under another 4- or 5-tier GBC rating system 0 Square feet
LEED BD+C Certified or certified at minimum level under another GBC rating system 0 Square feet

Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space certified under a non-GBC rating system for design and construction (e.g. Green Globes NC, Certified Passive House):
0 Square feet

Percentage of newly constructed or renovated building space certified under a green building rating system for design and construction:
47.17

A brief description of the green building rating system(s) used and/or a list of certified buildings and ratings:

Boston University incorporates sustainable building practices into small renovations and large construction projects alike. Building design and construction takes a broad spectrum of green building strategies into account. To accomplish this, the University uses the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Certification System to track opportunities in transportation, site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, waste reduction, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. New construction projects will meet LEED Certification standards.
Historically, completed projects at BU include 825,308 square feet of LEED Certified space, of which 89% has achieved LEED Gold.
The values provided for eligible and certified building area exclude projects that are registered and successfully tracking for certification, but have not yet completed the process through LEED Online.

For more information on LEED Certified projects, see http://www.bu.edu/sustainability/what-were-doing/green-buildings/


Floor area of newly constructed or renovated building space that is NOT certified, but that was designed and constructed in accordance with published green building guidelines and policies:
287,621 Square feet

A copy of the green building guidelines or policies :
The green building guidelines or policies:

The Climate Action Plan Task Force working group focused on new buildings and major renovations lays out the issues to be addressed in new construction for the Climate Action Plan and the systems and policies needed to address them. The document is attached.


Do the green building guidelines or policies cover the following?:
Yes or No
Impacts on the surrounding site (e.g. guidelines to reuse previously developed land, protect environmentally sensitive areas, and otherwise minimize site impacts) Yes
Energy consumption (e.g. policies requiring a minimum level of energy efficiency for buildings and their systems) Yes
Building-level energy metering Yes
Use of environmentally preferable materials (e.g. guidelines to minimize the life cycle impacts associated with building materials) Yes
Indoor environmental quality (i.e. guidelines to protect the health and comfort of building occupants) Yes
Water consumption (e.g. requiring minimum standards of efficiency for indoor and outdoor water use) Yes
Building-level water metering Yes

A brief description of the green building guidelines or policies and/or a list or sample of buildings covered:

Boston University incorporates sustainable building practices into small renovations and large construction projects alike. Building design and construction takes a broad spectrum of green building strategies into account. To accomplish this, the University uses the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Certification System to track opportunities in transportation, site development, water efficiency, energy efficiency, waste reduction, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. New construction projects over will meet LEED Certification standards.

The values provided for uncertified building area exclude projects that are LEED eligible and are successfully tracking for certification or did not attain a LEED certification. Projects less than 3,000 square feet are excluded from this calculation.


A brief description of how the institution ensures compliance with green building design and construction guidelines and policies:

In collaboration with sustainability@BU, Facilities Management & Planning identifies goals, opportunities and best practices to reduce the environmental impact of new and existing buildings through increased resource efficiency, improved indoor environmental quality, material selection, and operational procedures.
Specific responsibilities include:
- Continually updating building design and construction guidelines
- Improving overall efficiency in buildings, grounds and operations
- Reducing the use of limited and non-renewable resources
- Improving the indoor environmental quality for new and existing buildings
- Recommending pilot programs and projects to test and verify the proposed strategies, policies and procedures


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.