Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.40
Liaison Austin Sutherland
Submission Date Feb. 21, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Pennsylvania
OP-4: Building Design and Construction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.95 / 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) :
2,145,305 Square feet

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 515,585 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 1,176,902 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):
452,818 Square feet

Percentage of newly constructed or renovated building space certified under a green building rating system for design and construction:
100

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

Main Campus Completed LEED Projects:
Smilow Center for Translational Research Laboratory - 500,000 sf (Silver)
Lerner Center for Music Building - 29,200 sf (Gold)
Joe’s Café in Steinberg-Hall Dietrich Hall - 12,000 sf (Gold CI)
Weiss Pavilion 22,500 sf (Gold)
Golkin Hall for Penn Law School- 40,000 sf (Gold)
Hutchinson Infill Building Gym Renovation- 59,500 sf (Silver)
The ARCH - 29,000 sf (Silver)
Steinberg Hall - Dietrich Hall West Addition and Classrooms -33,800 sf (Gold)
Wharton School Dean's Suite 3,175 (Gold)
Vance Hall 22,500 (Silver)
New College House (198,000 sf) (Gold)
GRW Basement 27,800 (Silver)
3901 Walnut Office Building - 30,000 sf (Gold)
Levin Building – Neuro Behavioral Sciences 78,000 sf(Silver)
Krishna Singh Center for Nanotechnology 72,000 sf (Gold)
Perry World House - 17,900 sf (Silver)

Other LEED Buildings in the University of Pennsylvania System, but not included on the main campus:
Pennovation Center - 58,000 (Gold)
The Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine - 360,000 sf (Silver)
Morris Arboretum Horticultural Center - 28,400 sf (Platinum)
Henry A. Jordan Medical Education Center - 371,000
Evo at Cira Center South - 454,000 (Gold)
FMC Tower at Cira Center South - 830,000 (Gold)

Century Bond Renovation Projects:
Chemistry 1973 Wing
Richards Building
Meyerson Hall
Ryan/Rosenthal
Evans Building


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:
---

A copy of the green building guidelines or policies :
The green building guidelines or policies:
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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:

The intent of the "Green Building guidelines" is to improve environmental practices for building renovation projects across campus that are below the designate thresholds for pursuing LEED certification, including the Morris Arboretum, the New Bolton Center, UPHS projects, and Penn Real Estate projects. The Guidelines are to be followed throughout all phases of applicable renovation projects, and apply to project design, specification, and construction.

In addition to the green guidelines, the University has a robust set of "Engineering Guidelines" which are required on all projects at the University. The "Engineering Guidelines" familiarize Architects and Engineers with the University's design requirements and procedures, preferred system and materials, utility operating characteristics, expectations for life cycle costing, and energy available on campus. Architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and landscape standards can be found on the Penn Facilities and Real Estate Services website: https://www.facilities.upenn.edu/standards-policies/standards/design-standards.


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

To ensure compliance with the green building guidelines, Penn Project Managers include a review of the project’s sustainability goals as part of the kick-off meeting agenda, and ensure that the project team is aware of all requirements of Penn’s "Instructions to Design Professionals." Penn's "Instructions to Design Professionals" are incorporated by reference in Penn's Agreements with design professionals on all Penn projects.

At the outset of the project, and no later than the project kick-off meeting, the Project Team identifies a “Green Guidelines Coordinator” (GGC) for the project to fulfill the duties described in this document:
• For LEED projects, the A/E team shall designate the LEED coordinator, and an additional GGC is not needed;
• For projects that require an outside design professional that are not seeking LEED certification, the A/E team shall designate the GGC;
• For projects that do not have an outside design professional, the responsibilities of the GCC will be performed by a designated member of the School / Center staff;
• For projects performed by the FRES O&M Small Projects Group, the GGC shall be designated by O&M management and the School / Center.

In addition to the "Green Guidelines for Renovations", the Penn "Engineering Guidelines" include specifications on all engineering related aspects of design and construction, with required compliance on all Penn projects. For example, the Engineering Guidelines specify all HVAC designs must maintain energy efficiency as a key criteria in conformance with the University's Climate Action Plan. When working in existing facilities, the designer should investigate energy savings opportunities which may reach outside the bounds of their projects. The design guidelines address all aspects of mechanical and HVAC systems, as well as many other aspects such as: electrical, fire, plumbing, etc.


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The University of Pennsylvania is a major research institution, with over 3,000 degrees granted annually from twelve professional and academic schools at the Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate levels. Penn is committed to reducing emissions and energy use, as stated in the 2014 "Climate Action Plan 2.0". This submission documents Penn's efforts during the FY17 year and compares them to the FY14 baseline year which corresponds with the University's "Climate Action Plan. 2.0". The submission relies on information related to the main, academic, West Philadelphia campus, but to more fully document efforts across the Penn system, information related to the Morris Arboretum and New Bolton has also been referenced and noted as outside the boundary in descriptions. The information is used to enrich examples of University efforts and is not intended to be the primary justification for credits. The responses for each of the questions and sub-questions are drawn from University materials, both internal and public documents. Each section notes the website where the information can be found.


The University of Pennsylvania is a major research institution, with over 3,000 degrees granted annually from twelve professional and academic schools at the Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctorate levels. Penn is committed to reducing emissions and energy use, as stated in the 2014 "Climate Action Plan 2.0". This submission documents Penn's efforts during the FY17 year and compares them to the FY14 baseline year which corresponds with the University's "Climate Action Plan. 2.0". The submission relies on information related to the main, academic, West Philadelphia campus, but to more fully document efforts across the Penn system, information related to the Morris Arboretum and New Bolton has also been referenced and noted as outside the boundary in descriptions. The information is used to enrich examples of University efforts and is not intended to be the primary justification for credits. The responses for each of the questions and sub-questions are drawn from University materials, both internal and public documents. Each section notes the website where the information can be found.

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.