| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.83 |
| Liaison | Andrew Porter |
| Submission Date | March 10, 2017 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Cincinnati
OP-3: Building Operations and Maintenance
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 5.00 |
Daniel
Hart Sustainability Coordinator Planning + Design + Construction |
Total floor area of building space:
Floor area of building space that is certified at each level under a green building rating system for the operations and maintenance of existing buildings used by an Established Green Building Council:
| Certified Floor Area | |
| LEED O+M Platinum or the highest achievable level under another GBC rating system | 0 Square feet |
| LEED O+M Gold or the 2nd highest level under another 4- or 5-tier GBC rating system | 0 Square feet |
| Certified at mid-level under a 3- or 5-tier GBC rating system (e.g. BREEAM-In Use, CASBEE for Existing Buildings, DGNB, Green Star Performance) | 0 Square feet |
| LEED O+M Silver or at a step above minimum level under another 4 -or 5–tier GBC rating system | 0 Square feet |
| LEED O+M Certified or certified at minimum level under another GBC rating system | 0 Square feet |
Floor area of building space that is certified under a non-GBC rating system for the operations and maintenance of existing buildings, e.g. BOMA BESt, Green Globes CIEB:
Percentage of building space certified under a green building rating system for the operations and maintenance of existing buildings:
A brief description of the green building rating system(s) used and/or a list or sample of certified buildings and ratings:
N/A
Of the institution's uncertified building space, what percentage of floor area is maintained in accordance with a published indoor air quality (IAQ) management policy or protocol? (0-100):
A copy of the IAQ management policy or protocol:
The website URL where the IAQ policy/protocol may be found:
Of the institution's uncertified building space, what percentage of floor area is maintained in accordance with a published green cleaning policy, program or contract ? (0-100):
A copy or the green cleaning policy:
A brief description of how green cleaning is incorporated into cleaning contracts:
In addition to how buildings are constructed, how buildings are maintained and cleaned has a significant environmental impact. UC has instituted a Green Cleaning Policy to mitigate this. The most recent formal iteration of this policy can be found here.
UC’s Building Services provides routine housekeeping and custodial care to more than 97 buildings totaling over 13 million gross square feet (GSF) of space. Housekeeping is part of Facilities Management, which in turn is part of UC’s Administration and Finance Department. Building Services has approximately 160 staff. Each building has assigned staff that performs routine cleaning on a scheduled basis. To accomplish this task, housekeeping staff use a variety of cleaning, maintenance and disposable products on a daily basis. Since 2005, steps have been taken to shift away from caustic products to safer, greener products. Today many products such as restroom and general purpose cleansers are sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Housekeeping monitors the marketplace for effective sustainable products, in order to use sustainable products with equivalent performance, and continually trains staff to use the sustainable products while educating them about sustainability. New sustainable housekeeping products are continually offered in the marketplace. Some products perform well and others do not. Identification and testing of new products occur at the director and associate director level. Once the new products are approved for trial, the managers and building supervisors are trained in their use and the products are tested in the field by front-line staff. Housekeeping assesses new product performance relative to their purchase price and labor costs to use them. For example, cleaning staff utilize both BETCO and Kaivac sustainable green cleaning products, both certified by Green Seal - the nation's number one green product rating system since 1989. Together these product lines offer a wide range of green cleaning solutions. These products were tested by managers, shown to supervisors and then introduced to front-line staff. The uses of these products and other green ones, along with efficiency procedures greatly improves the sustainability of UC's facilities.
Of the institution's uncertified building space, what percentage of floor area is maintained in accordance with an energy management or benchmarking program? (0-100):
A brief description of the energy management or benchmarking program:
The University of Cincinnati’s campus is actively controlled by a comprehensive centralized building monitoring system (BMS). This BMS system allows for a sophisticated control of many of the largest pieces of equipment, lighting and HVAC systems operating throughout the campus buildings. Beyond the BMS, the preferred temperature control setpoints for the buildings during occupied periods at the university are 70°F heating and 75°F cooling. The University's staff sets back the temperatures and the airflows wherever possible. UC's unoccupied building temperature setpoints are 65°F heating and 78°F cooling. These unoccupied periods are determined by either an occupancy sensor or time of day schedule.
Of the institution's uncertified building space, what percentage of floor area is maintained in accordance with a water management or benchmarking program? (0-100):
A brief description of the water management or benchmarking program:
The University of Cincinnati (UC) takes the conservation of water seriously throughout the daily operation of its buildings—as evidenced by UC’s commitment to building all its new buildings or large- scale renovations to LEED standards.
In existing buildings, facility staff are given comprehensive training on detecting and fixing water leaks as soon as discovered. From a purchasing perspective, it is the policy of UC facilities to install high efficiency water fixtures, where appropriate water saving technologies exist.
UC’s water conservation policies also extend to the proper maintenance of the utility plant’s chilled water and steam distribution and return systems. These utility systems utilize a vast amount of water and the proper return and reuse of this water represents an enormous ongoing savings for the campus. These building-centered water management strategies parallels additional efforts on the campus to manage storm water runoff and minimize harmful impacts to the larger Cincinnati sewer system.
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:
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.