Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.81
Liaison Christa Rieck
Submission Date Jan. 4, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Houston
OP-4: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.25 / 3.00
"---" 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) :
1,706,838 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 0 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:
0

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:
Cougar Woods Dining Hall - LEED Silver Certified

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:
1,706,838 Square feet

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

A copy of the green building guidelines or policies :
CAMPUS DESIGN GUIDELINES AND STANDARDS JANUARY 2018_Section7.pdf

The green building guidelines or policies:
Please see attached file. UH policy is currently being updated for all new construction to require a minimum certification of LEED Silver.

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:
Welcome Center Student Garage Cougar Place  Cougar Village 2 Satellite Central Plant1 Health and Biomedical Sciences Cougar Woods Dining Hall University Classroom and Business Building Stadium Parking Garage Science Teaching Laboratory Building Cougar Village Michael J. Cemo Hall Calhoun Lofts Campus Recreation & Wellness Annex East Parking Garage

None
A brief description of how the institution ensures compliance with green building design and construction guidelines and policies:
The University of Houston has adopted many of the USGBC Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria for sustainable design and, since 2006, has required buildings to be designed to current LEED Silver criteria or greater. Actual certification has not commonly been pursued. LEED 4 recently has replaced LEED-NC 2009 and the influence of this change on design and construction practices at the University are not yet understood. As LEED-NC 2009 will be open for registration until June 2015, UH continues to require new construction to be designed, at a minimum, to LEED-NC 2009 Silver criteria. On an individual project basis, UH Facilities Planning and Construction/Facilities Management and other Project Team members may make the decision to incorporate sustainable practices from LEED 4. Our facilities management team works hand-in-hand with our Facilities, Planning, & Construction team to design buildings to LEED silver status. Some of the topics we address include Building Management System and utility monitoring in order to minimize utility consumption while providing high level of satisfaction to our student, faculty, and staff.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.uh.edu/facilities-planning-construction/vendor-resources/owners-design-criteria/design-guidelines/

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.