Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 54.46
Liaison Audrey McSain
Submission Date March 30, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Lehigh University
OP-4: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.30 / 3.00 Douglas Spengel
Associate Director Utilities and Engineering
Facilities Services
"---" 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) :
200,356 Square feet

Certified Projects 

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 137,330 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 63,026 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:
100

If reporting certified projects, provide:

A brief description of the green building rating system(s) used and/or a list of certified buildings and ratings:
Lehigh University uses the USGBC LEED rating system. Lehigh currently has 2 buildings that are LEED Gold. While not counted in the statistics in this report, there is another building on campus with a LEED Gold certification; Ben Franklin TechVentures is a private entity that is located on Lehigh's Mountaintop Campus.

If reporting uncertified projects, provide:

Uncertified Projects 

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:
0 Square feet

If reporting published green building guidelines or policies, provide the following:

A copy of the green building guidelines or policies :
The green building guidelines or policies:
Lehigh's goal for each new construction and major renovation project is to achieve a LEED Silver rating, under the applicable version of LEED BD&C. Besides this goal, Lehigh has some of its own design and construction project standards that in part include some specific green building features.

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) ---
Energy consumption (e.g. policies requiring a minimum level of energy efficiency for buildings and their systems) ---
Building-level energy metering Yes
Use of environmentally preferable materials (e.g. guidelines to minimize the life cycle impacts associated with building materials) ---
Indoor environmental quality (i.e. guidelines to protect the health and comfort of building occupants) ---
Water consumption (e.g. requiring minimum standards of efficiency for indoor and outdoor water use) ---
Building-level water metering Yes

A brief description of the green building guidelines or policies and/or a list or sample of buildings covered:
Lehigh first established its goal for each construction project to achieve a LEED Silver rating in 2009 when it adopted a climate commitment, and this goal was reaffirmed in 2012 and 2016 when Sustainability Plans were adopted aimed at achieving a variety of short-term goals while continuing to re-emphasize the original long-term goals. Lehigh has developed standards for campus design and construction projects that include green building guidelines, such as requirements for electric metering for each building and installation of LED lights, etc.

None
A brief description of how the institution ensures compliance with green building design and construction guidelines and policies:
The primary means of assessing compliance with the green building design and construction policy is whether each project achieves a LEED Silver rating. Compliance with other green building guidelines are assessed throughout the design and construction process as Lehigh's Campus Planning and Facilities Services team provides feedback to each design and construction team.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
STEPS building opened in 2010 and was certified as LEED Gold in 2011. Williams Hall was renovated in 2015 and certified as LEED Gold in 2016. The Ben Franklin TechVentures building addition was certified as LEED Gold in 2013. https://sustainability.lehigh.edu/sites/sustainability.lehigh.edu/files/LehighEnergyPolicyFinal.pdf

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.