Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 58.99
Liaison Deborah Steinberg
Submission Date Feb. 27, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Carnegie Mellon University
OP-4: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.12 / 3.00 Janice Held
CDFD Principal Project Manager
Campus Design and Facility Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have any building space certified under the following green building rating systems for new construction and major renovations?:
Yes or No
LEED or another 4-tier rating system used by an Established Green Building Council (GBC) Yes
The DGNB system, Green Star, or another 3-tier GBC rating system No
BREEAM, CASBEE, or another 5-tier GBC rating system No
The Living Building Challenge No
Other non-GBC rating systems (e.g. BOMA BESt, Green Globes) No

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

New building spaces (constructed in last 5 years) on campus that meet the LEED certification criteria and/or are registered for LEED certification include;
Silver CI
2009 Porter Hall 100
2010 Doherty Hall Phase II
2012 Mellon Institute Renovations
2013 GSIA 1st Floor

Gold CI
GSIA West Entry

Gold NC
Gates and Hillman Centers


Total floor area of eligible building space (design and construction):
330,800 Square feet

Floor area of building space that is certified at each level under a 4-tier rating system for new construction and major renovations used by an Established Green Building Council::
Certified Floor Area
Minimum Level (e.g. LEED Certified) 0 Square feet
3rd Highest Level (e.g. LEED Silver) 117,800 Square feet
2nd Highest Level (e.g. LEED Gold) 213,000 Square feet
Highest Achievable Level (e.g. LEED Platinum) 0 Square feet

Floor area of building space that is certified at each level under a 3-tier rating system for new construction and major renovations used by an Established Green Building Council::
Certified Floor Area
Minimum Level ---
Mid-Level ---
Highest Achievable Level ---

Floor area of building space that is certified at each level under a 5-tier rating system for new construction and major renovations used by an Established Green Building Council::
Certified Floor Area
Minimum Level ---
4th Highest Level ---
Mid-Level ---
2nd Highest Level ---
Highest Achievable Level ---

Floor area of building space certified Living under the Living Building Challenge:
---

Floor area of building space that is certified at any level under other green building rating systems for new construction and major renovations:
---

Floor area of building space that was designed and constructed in accordance with green building policies or guidelines but NOT certified:
---

A copy of the guidelines or policies :
---

The date the guidelines or policies were adopted:
Jan. 1, 2003

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

XX037 ADOPTED STANDARDS
The University has committed to adopting the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system for all new construction and significant renovations. All such projects shall be designed and constructed so that they will meet the current version of the LEED for New Construction and Major Renovations (LEED-NC) standard. In addition the University has established the goal of achieving a minimum of a LEED “Silver” rating.
Less extensive renovations shall utilize the LEED for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI) rating system as applicable to their defined scope of work. For example, a project that is exclusively painting might only be eligible for a single LEED point under the Low-Emitting Materials, Paints and Coatings section of the LEED-CI rating system and would be expected to meet the requirements for that point. As the scope of a project broadens, associated sections of LEED-CI would come into play.


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

By contract with the university, Design Consultants apply university Design and Construction Standards to their work on university projects.

If Design Consultants identify circumstances in which, in their professional opinion, either the university or their internal customers or their projects themselves would be better served by waiving the application of any aspect of the Design and Construction Standards, they must seek formal approvals to continue with design services that do not apply certain of those Design and Construction Standards to their work.

To obtain such waivers, Design Consultants are asked to put their requests in writing addressed to their university Project Manager (PM) assigned to their projects. PMs submit these written applications for waivers to the Director of Design in the university’s Campus Design and Facilities Development (CDFD) organization, or to the University Engineer in the university’s Facilities Management Services (FMS) organization, or to both (depending on the nature of each proposed waiver) for review and response. Copies of waiver requests also go to the Associate Vice Provost (Associate VP) for CDFD, to the PM’s supervisor (the Director of Construction for CD&FD), and to Customer Representatives (CRs) for the projects involved.

The Director of Design in the University's CD&FD organization or University Engineer or both approve or reject waiver applications in writing and transmit them to the PM, with copies to the Design Consultant, to the Associate VP for CD&FD, to the supervisor and to the CR. Design Consultants or CRs may appeal rulings on waiver applications to the Associate VP.

The Associate VP reviews appeals of proposed waivers and either approves or denies them, with advice from the PMs and the supervisor, and from other interested parties not directly involved in the appeal. Associate VP decisions are put in writing and transmitted to the appellant (Design Consultant or CR), with copies to the other interested party and to the University Architect/Engineer, to the PM, and to the supervisor.

Waiver requests provide useful insights into the effect of the Design Guidelines. Over time, they may prompt confirmations of, or changes to, the Design Guidelines.


The website URL where information about the institution’s certified buildings and/or green building design and construction guidelines or policies is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The building space data provided can be verified at "Carnegie Mellon Factbook 2012-2013 Campus Space, Facilities, and Services"
http://www.cmu.edu/ira/factbook/facts2013.html

All new projects over $5M at Carnegie Mellon University are required to achieve at least a LEED Silver rating.


The building space data provided can be verified at "Carnegie Mellon Factbook 2012-2013 Campus Space, Facilities, and Services"
http://www.cmu.edu/ira/factbook/facts2013.html

All new projects over $5M at Carnegie Mellon University are required to achieve at least a LEED Silver rating.

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.