Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.69
Liaison Ciannat Howett
Submission Date July 25, 2011
Executive Letter Download

STARS v1.0

Emory University
OP-2: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.72 / 4.00 Brent Zern
Environmental Engineer
Campus Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

New building space that meets "Eligible Buildings Criteria":
535,505 Square feet

New building space that was designed and constructed in accordance with green building policies or guidelines but not LEED certified:
0 Square feet

New building space that is LEED Certified :
0 Square feet

New building space that is LEED Silver certified:
304,279 Square feet

New building space that is LEED Gold certified :
231,226 Square feet

New building space that is LEED Platinum certified:
0 Square feet

The website URL where a copy of the institution's guidelines or policies for green building is available :
An electronic copy of the guidelines or policies :
The date(s) the policies or guidelines were adopted:
Feb. 28, 2001- Board of Trustees Resolution

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

All university capital projects are handled through the Campus Services department, which follows LEED certification criteria guidelines during the design and implementation process. Each capital project is also reviewed by the Committee on the Environment, which may make additional suggestions about improving the sustainability aspects of the project.


Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Emory holds the distinction of having one of the largest inventories by square footage of LEED-certified building space among campuses in America and has been a pioneer in the green building movement in higher education. In 2000, Emory’s Whitehead Biomedical Research Building became the first LEED-certified building in the Southeast, and the Goizueta Business School became the first Gold-certified LEED-EB (LEED for Existing Buildings) in the entire country in 2005.

The square footage represented in this STARS credit includes less than a third of Emory’s total LEED-certified building space. Because the criteria requires that eligible building space only include that which was constructed in the past three years, we could not claim credit for the following LEED-certified buildings:

- LEED-Gold (total 243,178 sq. ft.): Goizueta Business School (EB), Goizueta Business School Addition.
- LEED-Silver (total 378,540 sq. ft.): Whitehead Biomedical Research, Candler Library.
- LEED-Certified (total 532,196 sq. ft.): Math & Science, Winship Cancer Institute, Pediatrics

In addition, the following building space could not be included in our submission due to pending LEED-Silver certification: School of Medicine, Oxford Road Building, Rollins School of Public Health addition, and Longstreet-Means Building, totaling 473,367 square feet.

The Yerkes Field Station and the Oxford College Residence Hall, both certified LEED-Gold, were not included in this credit because they fall outside of our STARS reporting boundary.

Emory University continues to lead in green building with the adoption of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards (2001) and ongoing commitment that all new construction projects meet a minimum of LEED-Silver certification.


Emory holds the distinction of having one of the largest inventories by square footage of LEED-certified building space among campuses in America and has been a pioneer in the green building movement in higher education. In 2000, Emory’s Whitehead Biomedical Research Building became the first LEED-certified building in the Southeast, and the Goizueta Business School became the first Gold-certified LEED-EB (LEED for Existing Buildings) in the entire country in 2005.

The square footage represented in this STARS credit includes less than a third of Emory’s total LEED-certified building space. Because the criteria requires that eligible building space only include that which was constructed in the past three years, we could not claim credit for the following LEED-certified buildings:

- LEED-Gold (total 243,178 sq. ft.): Goizueta Business School (EB), Goizueta Business School Addition.
- LEED-Silver (total 378,540 sq. ft.): Whitehead Biomedical Research, Candler Library.
- LEED-Certified (total 532,196 sq. ft.): Math & Science, Winship Cancer Institute, Pediatrics

In addition, the following building space could not be included in our submission due to pending LEED-Silver certification: School of Medicine, Oxford Road Building, Rollins School of Public Health addition, and Longstreet-Means Building, totaling 473,367 square feet.

The Yerkes Field Station and the Oxford College Residence Hall, both certified LEED-Gold, were not included in this credit because they fall outside of our STARS reporting boundary.

Emory University continues to lead in green building with the adoption of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards (2001) and ongoing commitment that all new construction projects meet a minimum of LEED-Silver certification.

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.